OT avoid butter flavoring diacetyl

[Guest guest]

I totally believe in eating REAL foods.There was a great show on CNN last week about obesity and disease in America being related to what we eat. The problem is too many processed foods. They are full of chemicals and sugar. Real food is real butter, veggies, meats, fruits, etc., products made from real foods not chemicals.See what's new at AOL.com and Make AOL Your Homepage.

[Guest guest]

ANDREW SCHNEIDER, " Popcorn supplier to drop toxic chemical " , Seattle

Post-Intelligencer, September 5, 2007,

Link: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/food/330230_popcorn05.html?source=mypi

ConAgra, the world's largest supplier of the 3 billion bags of

microwave popcorn sold each year, said Tuesday that it will eliminate

the use of a controversial chemical butter flavoring linked to severe

lung disease in workers from its Act II and Orville Redenbacher

products.

The announcement comes a week after Pop Weaver, the nation's second-

largest popcorn producer, said it already had pulled the synthetic

flavoring -- diacetyl -- from its microwave product delivered to

stores last month.

Meanwhile, a lung specialist from Denver's National Jewish Medical and

Research Center has notified federal agencies that she may have

identified the first known case of a man who ate popcorn at home and

had the same disease as the workers.

Lung specialist Dr. Cecile Rose wrote to the Food and Drug

Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention and the Occupational Health and Safety

Administration in July, advising them of her patient and the

possibility that people who pop microwave corn at home can be at risk.

The rare lung disease that Rose diagnosed in her patient --

bronchiolitis obliterans -- can cause death in severe cases. Lung

transplants are the only hope that patients have. The disease quickly

leads to breathing difficulties and is often misidentified by

physicians unfamiliar with the disease.

It has been found coast-to-coast in workers in plants that make and

use flavorings, in candy factories and in a dozen different food

production operations that use the synthetic chemical butter

flavoring.

A naturally occurring substance found in many dairy products, diacetyl

was first produced synthetically in Europe and is added to thousands

of products throughout the world to increase or enrich butter

flavoring.

Rose told the federal health agencies that her patient had a similar

clinical finding to the affected factory workers but his only exposure

to diacetyl was as " a heavy, daily consumer of butter flavored

microwave popcorn. "

Rose said that her team had measured the diacetyl released in the

patient's home when the popcorn was microwaved and found levels equal

to what the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health found

when it began investigating worker exposure in Midwest popcorn plants

in 2001.

The reaction from the health agencies she contacted has been minimal.

" I am surprised that none of the regulatory agencies has called me to

learn more about the case, " said the pulmonologist, but Rose added

that she has received " numerous calls from industry representatives

who were very interested in hearing more details than were presented

in my letter. "

Rose admits that it's difficult to make a positive link based on a

single report but added, " We have no other plausible explanation. "

Her letter prompted this response from Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif.,

chairwoman of a work force protection subcommittee:

" The reported case of a consumer diagnosed with popcorn lung

underscores the need for our public health agencies to take this

hazard more seriously, not only for workers, but for consumers as

well. While OSHA is dragging its feet over the numerous reports of

workers who have died or suffered serious lung disease from exposure

to diacetyl, this new case raises concerns that consumers may be at

risk as well. "

However, Rose's case may be the second possible " home exposure "

reported to a government agency.

Last year, Dr. Allan Parmet, a national recognized occupational

medicine specialist who was the first to diagnose the illnesses in

popcorn workers, referred a case to the Illinois state health

department.

The 6-year-old child was the son of a popcorn plant employee who had

full-blown bronchiolitis obliterans.

The man told Parmet that his son was showing symptoms identical to

his. When his plant closed, the company told the employees they could

help themselves to the products -- and Parmet's patient took home a

large quantity of butter-flavored oil, which he told the doctor he

used almost continuously for frying.

" The fumes filled his trailer, " Parmet said. " I was concerned about

what the child had inhaled so I sent a report to Illinois health

officials, and they just didn't care. "

Dr. Egilman, an occupation medicine specialist, has examined and

testified for many of the workers injured by diacetyl.

" People need to realize that these illness and deaths were completely

preventable, " Egilman said. " They occurred because the companies who

make these products hid the information on toxicity and control the

regulatory process. ... An emasculated government public health

community that is subservient to corporate profits cannot protect us

-- even from popcorn. "

Weaver, the first microwave popcorn company to remove diacetyl, said

it had taken its action because of concerns for consumers who were

" growing more anxious " over the presence of the chemical.

On Tuesday, ConAgra corporate spokeswoman Childs said no

date for the production of popcorn without the flavoring had been

determined, but it would be in the " near future. " The action will be

taken to protect ConAgra workers, she said.

" Our scientists are working to find an appropriate substitute. "

Workers from ConAgra were among more than 200 employees from six

Midwest microwave popcorn plants whose lungs were damaged or destroyed

by exposure to the butter flavoring used in the bags.

Although diacetyl may have serious public health consequences beyond

the workplace, only the National Institute of Occupational Safety and

Health has done extensive research on diacetyl in the workplace. Other

agencies bounce responsibility for diacetyl in consumer products

elsewhere.

The only agency studying how much diacetyl is generated in home

microwaving is the EPA, but it has been sitting on the results of its

research for more than two years. It is looking at the vapors as an

air pollutant.

The EPA's explanation for not sharing its finding with the public

health community or other federal investigators was that it did not

want to endanger its scientist's chance of having her research

published in a scientific journal.

When asked Tuesday what its reaction was to Rose's letter, the agency

released this statement: " EPA scientists do cutting-edge research to

protect public health. EPA's popcorn study was of emissions, not

health effect research. "

DIACETYL IN FOOD

Diacetyl is a naturally occurring substance found in many dairy

products and some wine. It was first produced synthetically in Europe

and is added to thousands of foods throughout the world to increase or

enrich butter flavoring. It is found in microwave popcorn, potato

chips, baked goods and candies, frozen food, artificial butter,

cooking oils, beer, dog food and other items. HOW DIACETYL HARMS

PEOPLE

Worker hazards: In manufacturing plants, it's been linked to

bronchiolitis obliterans -- irreversible obstructive lung diseases --

for which lung transplants are often the only way to survive. Lawsuits

against diacetyl manufacturers by hundreds of workers in popcorn,

flavoring and other food plants claiming injury from breathing

diacetyl have led to jury awards and settlements of more than $20

million.

Consumer hazards: The Food and Drug Administration and the Consumer

Product Safety Commission have declined to study the effect on

consumers. The Environmental Protection Agency has looked at the

vapors from heated diacetyl as an air pollutant but has not released

the results to the public or to public health professionals.

P-I senior correspondent Schneider can be reached at

or andrewschneider@....

[Guest guest]

I eat a lot of canned peaches because they stop the swelling in my ankles. So I

buy several cans at a time. Unsweetened if possible.

A few months ago I bought some Dole peaches in jars and those things tasted

marvelous. Better than any peaches I had ever eaten. So I read the label and

lo and behold they had added " peach flavoring " . I called them and asked them

what was in the peach flavoring and they told me it was proprietary and they

could not tell me what it was. So I told them I would not be buying any more

Dole peaches and I haven't.

Ora

>I totally believe in eating REAL foods.

>There was a great show on CNN last week about obesity and disease in America

>being related to what we eat. The problem is too many processed foods. They

>are full of chemicals and sugar.

>Real food is real butter, veggies, meats, fruits, etc., products made from

>real foods not chemicals.

>