By David Michaels Earlier this week, we broke the story of the first case of âpopcorn lungâ occurring in person whose exposure to diacetyl was not workplace-related. Now more details are coming out, including an interview with Wayne Watson, the Colorado furniture salesman with disease. In today’s AP article, P. Solomon Banda writes that “When […]
Workers who manufacture microwave popcorn for ConAgra and Pop Weaver will soon be able to breathe easier, since both companies have announced that they will stop using diacetyl to flavor their popcorn. Other workers â including those who make flavorings, baked goods, and other companiesâ microwave popcorn â may still be exposed to the artificial […]
With summer vacation over and school back in session, my thoughts naturally turn to homework, term papers and due dates. Perhaps if Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao and OSHA’s Asst. Secretary Edwin Foulke viewed their responsibilities to the nation’s workers like students with homework assignments, they’d take more responsibility for completely their assignments well and on time. Right now, OSHA (and the Secretary) seem to treat deadlines like those students who […]
Flavoring Workers' Lung (Popcorn/Diacetyl)
ConAgra Drops Diacetyl – and Prompts More Questions About Unreleased Research
Last week, Pop Weaver announced that it was eliminating diacetyl from its microwave popcorn products. Today, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Associated Press report that ConAgra will remove diacetyl from its Orville Redenbacher and Act II microwave popcorn over the next year. This news comes as David Michaelsâs post here about federal agenciesâ inadequate response to […]
Flavoring Workers' Lung (Popcorn/Diacetyl)
Popcorn Lung Coming to Your Kitchen? The FDA Doesn’t Want to Know
By David Michaels Updated Below For the past several years, news articles and Congressional hearings have reported on a deadly, irreversible lung disease â bronchiolitis obliterans â that is caused by workersâ exposure to food flavoring chemicals, and more specifically by exposure to a butter-flavoring chemical called diacetyl. So far, attention has focused on worker […]
For those of us fortunate enough to have Labor Day off from work, itâs a good time to remember all the workers who canât take a day off because we rely so heavily on them: hospital staff, police officers, bus drivers, power-company workers, and many others. Then, there are the retail and restaurant workers who […]
by Celeste Monforton Yesterday in “MSHA Spokesman Parrots Bob Murray,” I wrote about MSHA’s rejection of a request by the families of the six trapped Crandall Canyon miners to have the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) serve as the miners’ representative during MSHA’s investigation of the disaster. As usual for me, about two hours […]
by Celeste Monforton Max Follmer of The Huffington Post reports that MSHA has rebuffed a request from the Crandall Canyon families to designate the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) to serve as their representative during MSHA’s formal accident investigation. “In a statement e-mailed to The Huffington Post, MSHA spokesman Dirk Fillpot defended the agency’s actions, saying federal […]
By David Michaels The media has been buzzing (see here and here and here) about the announcement by the Pop Weaver Company that they will soon be marketing a butter flavored microwave popcorn that doesnât use diacetyl in the butter flavor. As readers of this blog know, diacetyl (a component of artificial butter flavor) has […]
The Mountain Eagle‘s Tom Bethell recounts a 1986 coal mining disaster in Queensland, Australia which involved an explosion in an abandoned, sealed area which caused the death of 12 miners. Its similarities to the 2006 Sago tragedy end there because, as Bethell writes: In the wake of that disaster, the Australian government launched an innovative program to […]