Doctor Warns Against Fumes In Microwave Popcorn

According to a doctor at a leading lung research hospital, consumers, not just factory workers, may be in danger from fumes from flavoring in microwave popcorn.

Dr. Cecile Rose at Denver's National Jewish Medical and Research Center has written to federal agencies to say doctors there believe they have the first case of a consumer who developed lung disease from the fumes of microwaving popcorn several times a day for years.

"We cannot be sure that this patient's exposure to butter flavored microwave popcorn from daily heavy preparation has caused his lung disease. However, we have no other plausible explanation," she writes.

The letter refers to a potentially fatal disease commonly called 'popcorn lung' that has been the subject of lawsuits by hundreds of workers at food factories exposed to chemicals used for flavoring.

Rose said the man had eaten microwave popcorn at least twice a day for more than 10 years and he liked it so much he opened the bag with the steam still coming out so he could inhale the smell.

He described progressively worsening respiratory symptoms of coughing and shortness of breath, and his ability to exhale was deteriorating, but his condition seemed to stabilize after he stopped eating microwave popcorn.

Her staff measured airborne levels of diacetyl in the patient's home when he cooked the popcorn and the levels were "similar to those reported in the microwave oven exhaust area" at the quality assurance unit of the popcorn plant where the affected employees worked.

So the next time you pop open a bag, don't go smellin' and air out the fumes first.

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