Chemical Danger: Substitutes Used In Butter Flavoring May Be Worse [View All]

Chemical Danger: Substitutes Used In Butter Flavoring May Be Worse

COLUMBUS, Ohio — When Tom and Carolyn Jones learned that dangerous vapors could be coming from their bags of microwave popcorn, they abandoned their usual nightly routine.

"We went to just popping it, either in a paper bag or a popcorn popper," Carolyn Jones said. "We looked for other options because we were concerned of getting sick."

They were concerned because of a chemical called diacetyl, used to give microwave popcorn its rich, buttery flavor. When it is heated, toxic vapors are released into the air.

The vapors have caused debilitating irreversible lung damage in many popcorn factory employees, including a group from Marion, 10TV's Anietra Hamper reported.

The chemical, along with the companies that used it, made national headlines over the past decade because of the cases of "popcorn lung."

http://www.10tv.com/live/content/teninvestigates/stories/2010/05/03/story-butter-flavoring.html?sid=102