In last week’s episode of Geek Girl TV, Eve Park mentioned that the delicious buttery smell of microwave popcorn can kill you. I was surprised to hear that.
I asked her “really? ”
And she replied that it is an additive, which if breathed in excess can cause lung cancer.
A quick search on Google finds a recent entry on WebMD about the problem with microwave popcorn. According to the post at WebMD, the additive is called diacetyl and has been linked to illness and deaths of workers at food-flavor factories. It is also mentioned that as of July 18th, the FDA, CDC, and EPA have not issued a public health alert yet., as there is no cases of illness caused by eating foods containing the additive.
This is crazy! Whenever I make a bag of microwave popcorn, I love to inhale the nice warm butter smell from the bag. Does this mean I could end up with lung cancer too? Maybe, or maybe not.
The dude mentioned in the WebMD post did consume two or more bags of microwave popcorn a day. His exposure is so extreme compared to me; I only consume a box or less a year. And on top of it all, the agencies which are supposed to protect us are doing nothing to inform people of the risk.
Proof that anything unnatural made by man might just kill you. 
2 Responses to “Microwave Popcorn Can Kill”
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1 Chris Magnusson Sep 9th, 2007 at 8:22 pmI wonder if the quantity of diacetyl varies by brand or flavour (regular, buttery, extra buttery, super-buttery, butter with popcorn…). -
2 Judie Lipsett Sep 9th, 2007 at 10:03 pmWhen I think of all the popcorn I have burned over the years…it’s kinda scary. 
