Food & Nasty Food product of the month 23 Sep 2007 08:51 pm
Nasty Food of the Month: Diacetyl in your microwave popcorn
Scanning People mag (Jenny McCarthy cover) this weekend I saw a one page story on the dangers of microwave popcorn. Huh? Come again? I hate the stuff…it “waterproofs” my tongue. Sounds crazy I guess but I’m also a popcorn purist: I eat organic YELLOW popcorn popped on the stovetop in olive oil and doused with REAL melted butter and sea salt at least 4x a week. And I don’t own a microwave. But dangerous?
A little homework bore out the truth: “popcorn lung” is an all-too-real condition. And it’s important to note: popcorn is not the culprit…the ADDITIVES are. Specifically, the additive DIACETYL.
Diacetyl occurrs naturally in the fermentation process and adds a “smooth” texture to beer and wine. It also creates a “buttery” flavor, leading to it becoming a chemical flavor additive in foods needing a fake butter-flavor assimilation. This is what happens, after all, when the public has become convinced of a natural-food’s evils through massive ad and info campaigns but still hanker for the flavor of the real thing. See Nasty Food of the Month: Margarine for more fake butter sin.
So microwave popcorn, which is offered for “butter lovers” and “movie theater butter” (oh don’t even get me started there….) full of additives much greater than the simple convenience of microwave heat needs (see: how to make your own microwave popcorn), comes full of diacetyl, which is very harmful when heated and most especially: when those hot fumes are inhaled.
Can you believe it? The scent of freshly popped corn is snack nirvana! It comes out hot and what do people do? Well duh…they inhale! It’s warm. It’s good. It makes us think happy thoughts of fun movies and friends. But popcorn-lung, or “bronchiolitis obliterans” is a potentially deadly disease and has greatly harmed popcorn factory workers and snack aficanados alike.
Diacetyl is also added to cake mixes and frozen foods. And…isn’t this mahvelous and oh-so-typical…it’s not necessarily labeled on the foods that contain it, as there is not currently any regulation requiring as much. The major makers are vague about when they will actually remove it from their product. What is super nasty to me is that the people mag article stressed that the food itself is safe, “once poured into a bowl”. Gee…are we idiots? Do we bathe our food in poisous gas on purpose and then assume that it’s safe to eat, without trace of the fumes into the food? Anyone wanna try it with cyanide or gasoline?
The damage, thankfully, seems often reversable. You know…it takes me about 3.5 minutes to make a batch of REAL food buttery popcorn; 5 if I’m making drinks and being a little slow. A microwaved batch takes about the same time; wanna switch?
More reading on the subject: From the NY Times, sixwise.com, and an osha study. Image from stiffnecklife.org.
on 24 Sep 2007 at 6:34 am 1.Brigid said …
I read the New York Times story, and it strikes me that this particular incident says a lot about excess. The man who fell ill was eating at least two bags of popcorn a day, and every time he made it, he would open the bag and inhale the steam. So he was really heavily exposing himself to the stuff. I doubt that most microwave popcorn eaters are in danger. However, the fact that the workers are suffering from this should give us all pause. Why are people being injured to produce a useless snack food?
Also, it’s interesting that the man in question was overweight and lost 50 pounds after he stopped eating microwave popcorn.
For the record, I mostly ban microwave popcorn, preferring, like you, to make it from scratch and drown it in butter. However, my kids like the fake butter taste, so once in a great while I will buy a box of the Whole Foods microwave popcorn for them. Once it’s gone, there’s no more for at least a couple of months.
on 24 Sep 2007 at 7:15 am 2.Malva said …
I know you don’t have a microwave but it could be useful for some of your readers:
You can put popping corn (like the previously mentioned organic yellow popcorn) in a brown paper bag, fold the bag and microwave it. You don’t need to add anything to the corn, no oil or anything and you can reuse the same bag several times.
on 24 Sep 2007 at 12:34 pm 3.Susanna a.k.a. Cheap Like Me said …
I gave up microwave popcorn because of all the packaging and general fakeness. I was surprised to think how popular it is when a friend was selling her air popper at a yard sale and said “Who uses an AIR POPPER anymore,” laughing as if it’s as out of date as a corset. Well, I use it! I’m on the organic yellow bandwagon too - with real butter! Yum, maybe I’d better make some right now …
on 24 Sep 2007 at 12:58 pm 4.Mimi said …
My Dh makes it on the stovetop, and it is amazing. However, I do agree this story has a lot to do with excess (and what we as a society put those who make fake foods through, those poor workers).
on 26 Sep 2007 at 1:03 pm 5.dalimama said …
We have returned to making it in our air popper. THe same air popper that Jeff took to college with him. It tastes sooooooo much better! Thanks as usual for the bad food info.
on 27 Sep 2007 at 9:24 am 6.Nickey said …
I gave up on microwaved popcorn some time ago as, like you mentioned, it leaves a disgusting film across the tongue (McDonald’s fries do the same thing.) and I also read somewhere that they use teflon to coat the inside of the packages.
It is really easy to make the real thing on the stove with no extra equipment to buy.
on 30 Sep 2007 at 2:41 am 7.Susanne said …
Several years ago I found a microwave popcorn popper that requires only a squirt of olive oil plus popcorn (we use organic yellow, too). I occasionally have to replace the little bottom heater thingy; they come on packs of ten and I think it takes us 5-6 months to go through a package. The kids make several batches every afternoon for snack — we love it!