ConAgra Pulls Microwave Popcorn Chemical

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By Weise, USA TODAY,USA Today

Posted: 2007-12-17 09:46:50

Filed Under: Recalls

http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/conagra-pulls-microwave-popcorn-

chemical/20071217090809990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001

ConAgra has removed a controversial chemical from its microwave

popcorn that gives the snack a buttery, creamy taste, citing concern

for its workers' health. ConAgra manufactures more than half of the

nation's microwave popcorn

The chemical is diacetyl (dahy-uh-SEET-l). Workers exposed to the

airborne chemical in plants making microwave popcorn have been

diagnosed with a rare lung disease called bronchiolitis obliterans,

according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and

Health.

Though the Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health

Administration does not have specific regulations regarding diacetyl,

it did issue a Safety and Health Information Bulletin in September

with recommendations for safety and health standards for its use.

ConAgra began reformulating its popcorn over a year ago as a worker-

safety issue. The company began removing diacetyl from its production

lines in November and is in the final stages of taking it out of all

products now.

" Our focus was on the worker-safety issue, the handling of the

concentrated flavoring, " says Al Bolles, vice president of research

for the company. By January, none of the company's products will

contain it, he says.

ConAgra is the nation's largest producer of popcorn, under its

Orville Redenbacher and Act II brands.

The nation's second-largest producer, General Mills, sells popcorn

under the Pop Secret brand. It removed diacetyl from its products in

October, spokesman Tom Forsythe says. The third-largest producer,

American Pop Corn Co. of Sioux City, Iowa, sells under the Jolly Time

brand. It also is reformulating its flavorings to remove diacetyl.

" We're just weeks away from converting our entire line, so it's all

but done, " says spokesman Tom Elsen.

Diacetyl is a chemical that occurs naturally in many foods,

especially dairy products, coffee and wine. As a flavoring

ingredient, it gives a creamy, buttery taste to manufactured

products. It has long been used in microwave popcorn to add to the

butter flavor.

There is no scientific data linking diacetyl to consumer health

concerns, because levels are so low. The U.S. Food and Drug

Administration has received one report of a man whose lungs may have

been damaged while making popcorn at home. No actual link was made,

but the man reportedly ate two bags of extra-buttery popcorn a night

and liked to inhale the fumes as it came out of the microwave.