Kipluck Beware!

Hee hee hee

A MAN who microwaved and ate two to three bags of extra-buttered popcorn a day for a decade has come down with a dangerous lung disease, apparently the first public case of "popcorn lung".

Popcorn lung, or broncheolitis obliterans, permanently scars airways, eventually leaving victims fighting for breath and dependent on oxygen. When safety experts identified the disease in workers in popcorn factories in 2002, they said consumers were not at risk because of the relatively low exposure.

But after treating a Colorado furniture salesman, 53, earlier this year, doctors at the National Jewish Medical and Research Centre in Denver warned federal agencies.

"We cannot be sure that this patient's exposure to butter-flavoured microwave popcorn has caused his lung disease," wrote the hospital's Cecile Rose."However, we have no other plausible explanation."

In response to the news, the Flavour and Extract Manufacturers Association on Tuesday recommended that members who made butter flavours with diacetyl consider cutting its concentration.

The association made it clear there was no suggestion of risk from eating popcorn. "No, it's inhalation," Ms Rose said. "This patient described enjoying the smell so much he was actually inhaling the steam."

Ms Rose said she had been surprised by the man's condition.

"So I turned to him and apologised and said, 'This is a really weird question. But are you around a lot of popcorn?' His jaw dropped, and he said, 'How did you know to ask me that? I am popcorn.' He described himself as a two-pack-a-day user. Sometimes more."

Ms Rose and her colleagues tested the air in the man's home for diacetyl, a chemical used to produce a buttery flavour, while he was microwaving popcorn.

Ms Rose said the man's lungs have stabilised since he gave up eating popcorn — and he shed almost 15 kilograms in weight.