Butter flavoring ingredient in microwave popcorn, thought safe for food industry workers, is a respiratory hazard
Monday, August 13, 2012 - 14:30
in Health & Medicine
The ingredient 2,3-pentanedione (PD), used to impart the flavor and aroma of butter in microwave popcorn, is a respiratory hazard that can also alter gene expression in the brain of rats. Manufacturers started using PD when another butter flavoring, diacetyl, was found to cause bronchiolitis obliterans, a life-threatening and nonreversible lung disease in workers who inhaled the substance.