Popcorn Makers Work to Remove Chemical
Wednesday September 5, 9:09 pm ET
By Josh Funk, AP Business Writer
Four Major Microwave Popcorn Makers Work to Remove Flavoring Chemical
Linked to Lung Ailment

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- Four of the nation's biggest microwave popcorn
makers are working to remove a flavoring chemical from their products
linked to a lung ailment in popcorn plant workers while reassuring
consumers about the safety of the snack.

Several of the companies discussed their plans Wednesday, a day after
a leading lung research hospital warned that consumers also could be
in danger from the buttery flavoring diacetyl.

The three companies that sell Orville Redenbacher, Act II, Pop Secret
and Jolly Time microwave popcorn said they planned to change the
recipes for their butter-flavored microwave popcorn to remove
diacetyl.

The chemical diacetyl has been linked to cases of bronchiolitis
obliterans, a rare life-threatening disease often called popcorn lung.

ConAgra Foods Inc., General Mills Inc. and the American Pop Corn
Company all promised to make the change because of safety concerns.
Together those companies accounted for more than 80 percent of the
market for microwave popcorn over the past 12 months, according to the
research firm Information Resources Inc.

ConAgra spokeswoman Stephanie Childs said the change will not affect
its popular stovetop popcorn, Jiffy Pop, because it contains natural
butter instead of the threatening chemical.

Last week, another popcorn manufacturer, Weaver Popcorn Co. of
Indianapolis, said it would replace the butter flavoring ingredient
because of consumer concern.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer advocacy
group, said the change is significant for workers who handle diacetyl
and welcome for consumers even though the butter flavor may not
present a significant risk for them.

"If the industry can get rid of the diacetyl, great. Why have any risk
at all?" said Michael Jacobson, the nonprofit's executive director in
Washington. "The real risk, the much bigger risk to consumers is the
trans fat in popcorns."

The popcorn makers said consumers worried about diacetyl can buy
varieties of microwave popcorn that are not butter flavored because
those products don't contain diacetyl.

Diacetyl occurs naturally in foods such as butter, cheese and fruits,
and the FDA has approved its use as a flavor ingredient.

A pulmonary specialist at Denver's National Jewish Medical and
Research Center had written to federal agencies to say doctors there
believe they have the first case of a consumer who developed lung
disease from the fumes of microwaving popcorn several times a day for
years, according to reports Tuesday.

Dr. Cecile Rose sent the letter to federal health officials in July.

The Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association said that Rose's
finding does not suggest a risk from eating microwave popcorn. The
concern instead focuses on workers inhaling it in manufacturing
settings -- either in making the flavoring or adding it to food
products ranging from popcorn to pound cakes.

The Washington, D.C.-based association has said several flavor
manufacturers are either researching alternatives to diacetyl or are
already marketing butter flavors free of the chemical.

ConAgra, which makes Orville Redenbacher and Act II popcorn, said it
would make the change over the next year.

General Mills, which sells but doesn't make Pop Secret popcorn, said
it planned to phase out diacetyl "soon," but company spokesman Tom
Forsythe said he wasn't sure how quickly that could be done.

A spokeswoman for American Pop Corn, which makes Jolly Time, said the
Sioux City, Iowa, company has been working on a new recipe without
diacetyl for several months.

"Within the next 90 days, we will have it removed from all of our
microwave popcorn products," spokeswoman Tracy Boever said.

The first government study to look at what fumes are produced by
microwaving popcorn at home is due to be published as soon as this
month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday.

The two-year study by EPA researchers was completed in late 2005 and
has been under wraps since then, prompting critics to charge that the
agency was protecting industry interests. But an EPA spokeswoman said
the delay was due to a string of requirements including scientific
review, submitting the report to industry and the time it took to get
into a scientific journal.

EPA spokeswoman Suzanne Ackerman said the paper was recently accepted
for publication as early as this month in a major scientific journal
that she would not name.

The EPA denied a Freedom of Information request last fall from The
Associated Press for the report, arguing it was a draft still under
review. The agency has not yet answered an AP appeal of that
rejection.

Ackerman confirmed that the study had been submitted to popcorn
manufacturers ahead of its release. She said that was done to let
companies make sure there were no competitive secrets in the report.
EPA scientists signed nondisclosure agreements with industry in return
for lists of ingredients the makers use in the popcorn and the
packaging.

The report, titled "Emissions from Cooking Microwave Popcorn," is not
a study of the health effects of diacetyl or any other fumes on
consumers. Instead, it looks at exactly what gases including diacetyl
are produced in what amount when consumers make microwave popcorn at
home.

AP Business Writer Marcus Kabel in Springfield, Mo., and Associated
Press Writer Oskar Garcia in Omaha contributed to this report.

ConAgra Foods Inc.: http://www.conagrafoods.com

Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association: http://www.femaflavor.org

General Mills Inc.: http://www.generalmills.com

American Pop Corn Company: http://www.jollytime.com

Weaver Popcorn Company: http://www.popweaver.com

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070905/popcorn_lung_conagra.html?.v=15

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