This morning I was listening to the radio and I was zoning out for most of the part but all I could remember hearing was "popcorn lung" and it stuck in my mind for the rest of the day. I decided to come home and do a little more research on this topic, and found some interesting information about it.
Apparently there are far more hazards to our health that we don't know about than we thought. It turns out that smelling your popcorn too much could be dangerous to your health, imagine that!
Although it is a rare condition on its own and usually happens to workers in popcorn factories, it has been proven that it may happen to popcorn consumers as well. The correct term for this disease: "popcorn lung / popcorn worker's lung" is Bronchiolitis Obliterans or Constrictive bronchiolitis and is caused by the dyacetyl butter flavoring ingredient in microwaveable popcorn. It happens when the chemical is inhaled, and it affects the lungs then the bronchioles are plugged with granulation tissue, which is a tissue that helps in healing wounds. There is no known cure for the disease, if someone has it, it is most likely that they will need a lung transplant.
So next time you go to the movies and the guy behind the counter asks "would you like extra butter on your popcorn?" you might want to think it over twice before you say "yes"; and remember not to inhale too much popcorn steam when you make some in your microwave!
; P
I never knew that. We have microwaved popcorn almost every night at our house. I will probably have to take my risks as far as the movie theater popcorn with extra butter. That is one of the things I really enjoy when I take the kids to the movies. Just the thought of that dripping butter in the box sounds so YUMMY, lol. :-B
Great post!
That is so crazy. Wow.
Also,
"So next time you go to the movies and the guy behind the counter asks "would you like extra butter on your popcorn?" "
The butter at the movie theater is real(ish) butter, not the powdered stuff in the microwave bags, so that should be perfectly safe. (at least in this respect. I mean, you still may get a heart attack or something from it)
That is very interesting. But as is my policy with everything. I rather live a short life eating what i want than a long life eating healthy crap. (I eat plenty of healthy good food but you can't make me give up pop corn :P)
Interesting topic.
Popcorn lung must be sorta like black lung.
Anything in excess isn't good lol.
+mspin
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/weezyf
crap it honestly feels like everything damages your health haha
Did you know you can pop regular old popcorn in the microwave? You don't have to waste money on the prepackaged stuff! You just put a scoop of regular popcorn in a paper lunch sack, fold the top down twice, and pop it just like you would the store-bought stuff. There is no fat--until you melt some organic butter to pour on top, that is--and there are no chemicals in it. Plus, a big bag of popcorn kernels costs as much as a single bag of microwave popcorn, and you'll get about thirty times the popcorn!
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
that's good to know. I use kernels to make popcorn, but I've been popping it in oil over the stove, which is probably not the healthies, but I can't afford a decent air popper. I always thought they would just burn instead of pop if I used the microwave, but now I'll have to try it. :-)
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/sawaboof
"...There is a crushing guilt that comes with being a Catholic. Whether things are good or bad or you're simply... eating tacos in the park, there is always the crushing guilt."
-30 Rock-
I never knew about that. And my entire family is addicted to popcorn. I better warn them, and then try with the kernals in the paper bag. ^_^
Wasn't there some recall on popcorn that used a specific butter flavoring? I think this was sometime last August or September. I bet this was the reason....
I've never been much for popcorn, so I think I'm safe!
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Haha! When I read the blog post I thought that you were going to write about what would happen in the case that you inhaled a popcorn through your nose and into your lungs! Wow that's crazy though. Hmmm... so a good, non-suspicious way to knock someone off would be to feed them microwave popcorn and have them breathe in all the steam when you open the bags? Got to try that... =P
-Cheez Out-
That's too bad! I love the smell of microwaved popcorn :(
I would have never guesses this, really it's shock to my ears!
that is crazy
i had nooo idea
That's so weird! You'd think there would be a warning somewhere on it. . . Then again. . .like people actually pay attention to the labels. XD