Are only workers at microwave popcorn factories at risk?
No. Investigators at the NIOSH say that workers who make a wide variety of products, from candy to snack cakes to potato chips, could be at risk of developing a severe lung disease associated with breathing butter flavoring vapors. Artificial butter is used in the manufacture of a wide range of food products. ”We know that butter flavorings are very widely used,” said Dr. Gregory Wagner, director of the NIOSH’s Division of Respiratory Disease Studies. ”What we don’t know is how much injury has occurred.” Lieff Cabraser is reviewing claims of injuries by workers outside the popcorn industry exposed to diacetyl.
