Death by popcorn

On a dull residence night old horror movies may send shivers down the spine, but that's not the only frightful thing in the vicinity. Fear should be instilled by the alluring scent of perfectly-popped butter kernels from the microwave. Recently, alarms have been raised linking respiratory problems to vapours emitted when heating flavoured popcorn. With the film festival just complete, now seems to be an appropriate time to look into the choice snack of movie goers and cash-strapped students alike. The main concern is around an ingredient in artificial butter flavouring called diacetyl. This chemical occurs naturally in butter and beer but is also manufactured. The danger lies in the vapours produced when the buttery popcorn is heated.
Concern regarding the safety of diacetyl began when American factory workers, consistently exposed to this substance, developed bronchiolitis obliterans also known as "popcorn workers lung". Since then, several investigations have been launched, including some on the consumer effects. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will be releasing their findings in a peer reviewed journal, December of this year. Their study will look at the emissions released from cooking microwave popcorn.

In July, Dr. Cecil Rose, a researcher at Denver's National Jewish Medical and Research Center, wrote a letter to several US agencies warning of "popcorn lung" found in a patient who was an avid consumer of the diacetyl-plagued product. Dr. Rose stated in her letter that the patient consumed "several bags of extra flavored microwave popcorn for several years." Wayne Watson was recognized as the patient who has become the first person to have developed popcorn lung purely through heavy consumption.

"I never eat out, never went to fast-food restaurants but I popped popcorn," said Watson in an interview with the Denver Post published on the 5th of September.
It is important to remember, as Rose points out in her letter that, "It is difficult to make a casual connection based on a single case report."

The CFIA, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, is the agency in charge of determining which additives are permitted in foods. IUnder Division 16 of Food and Drugs Regulations on the CFIA website, an extremely lengthy and verbose page -that does not name diacetyl as an approved food additive- can be found. The reason for this was unclear.

An e-mail sent to them concerning the matter was replied with a list of links which yielded inconclusive results. Diacetyl could be generically labeled on most products under the pseudonym of "artificial flavouring" as that is the common name issued to substances prepared through chemical synthesis.

The research that has been done indicates that diacetyl vapours only pose a risk over a continuous duration of time. So perhaps the old adage is right, everything in moderation. Either way some other popular bagged popcorn flavours which can be safely consumed in the mean time (since they are not heated, and diacetyl is released upon convection) are pickle, ketchup, sour cream and onion, cheddar, and caramel.

IFor a safe, microwavable variety there is always plain. Why not go gourmet and melt your own butter? Another option is organic buttered popcorn as it does not contain any artificial flavourings. When next purchasing some kernels, make sure that the brand is clearly identified as being certified organic. Sorry, Orville Redenbacher.