| Fake Butter Products Fry Eggs, Potatoes, Lungs |
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| Written by Heather McKee | |
| Saturday, 22 March 2008 | |
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Remember that poor guy who got lung disease because he loved to inhale the vapors from freshly microwaved bags of popcorn? Well, turns out it might have been the butter flavoring that did him in. Last week, a study by the federal goverment demonstrated that rats and mice exposed to diacetyl, a common ingredient in butter flavoring, developed the dreaded "popcorn lung." (The chemical diacetyl first came to the spotlight last year when it was implicated in Missouri popcorn plant workers’ contraction of the rare lung disease bronchiolitis obliterans.) Diacetyl isn't just present in popcorn factories - it's in all sorts of handy kitchen products, from butter-flavor non-stick sprays to fake butter chunks. So a union representing more than 440,000 hospitality workers requested that the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health study of the exposure levels of kitchen workers to diacetyl. In response, NIOSH pulled out its SWAT team of industrial hygienists and chemical breathing machines to monitor exposure in Aramark kitchens to diacetyl. And they’ve recently ended up giving Aramark workplaces a clean bill of health.
The problem is that NIOSH chose to study facilities in Seattle and Manhattan where workers were only present for one meal; or for a limited number of people, or special events – which workers are concerned doesn’t provide an accurate picture of average kitchen worker exposures.
Aramark, a corporation with over 3,500 operations in the U.S., apparently doesn’t disagree – they’ve removed all butter flavorings with diacetyl from its order forms – just in case.
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  written by Ajlouny, April 18, 2009
People died and continue to die because they work making popcorn flavoring powder, while the industry refuses to admit there's a problem, refuses to change the work process to protect workers, and while the government refuses to write or enforce regulations that would make them.
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It's true what our moms said...we are what we eat. In fact, it's truer than they thought. What I eat doesn't just affect me anymore, it affects all of us.
Unfortunately, the story of food can sometimes be complicated. But envirovores help each other out...which is why this blog will be bringing you news, tips, and information about food and the environment every step of the way.
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