Food worker union calls for end to diacetyl in cooking oil; lawmakers seek investigation

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/347255_diacetyl14.html?source=mypi

Last updated January 13, 2008 11:48 p.m. PT

By ANDREW SCHNEIDER
P-I SENIOR CORRESPONDENT

North America's largest union for hotel, restaurant and kitchen workers has called on manufacturers of cooking oils to stop using a lung-destroying butter-flavoring additive called diacetyl, and members of Congress have called for a federal investigation into the use of the additive, including where and how it's being used and whether workers are being harmed.

"It could pose a serious health risk to commercial cooks and UNITE HERE is calling for fast action by the food industry to cease the use of diacetyl flavoring in commercial and home cooking products," the union representing 450,000 workers said in a written statement.

The union was reacting to an article last month in the Seattle P-I, which reported the results of laboratory analysis of 23 cooking oils, sprays and margarines used by both home and professional cooks.

The analysis, conducted by the certified laboratory LabCor, found diacetyl vapors were released in all the products when the manufacturer's recommended amount of margarine, oil or spray for a specific recipe was heated.

The highest levels of diacetyl were found in the testing of butter-flavored pan, grill and saute oils used by professional cooks. An extrapolation of the toxic vapors released over a typical four- to five-hour breakfast rush matched or exceeded the diacetyl levels found in some microwave popcorn plants where hundreds of workers were sickened. The deaths of at least three from bronchiolitis obliterans -- inflammation of the small airways in the lungs -- were attributed to exposure to the chemical butter flavoring.

Congress acts

The letter from the House Committee on Education and Health delivered Friday to Dr. John Howard, the director of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, cites the study funded by the P-I and extensive research done by NIOSH since the first illnesses from diacetyl exposure surfaced among workers in Midwest popcorn plants seven years ago.

FULL story at link.

I always worked for chefs committed to whole foods and in restaurants that used real butter.

I am grateful that they are looking into this. Although it puts a bit of a crimp in the movie-nite microwave popcorn. Guess I'll have to train the teenager on popping the stuff in a pan :).