First I am told to limit my diet soda drinking...now the very popcorn that I consume may be detrimental to my health!?!?!
I am an admitted popcorn fanatic.
Most of the time when Dave comes over he can smell the telltale aroma of freshly popped microwave popcorn in my house. He laughs at me and my popcorn addiction.
But, I can't help it. I love the crunchy, buttery taste of each puffed kernel! I'm not even sure that I can enjoy a movie without it. (Although since "they" found out that theater popcorn was equal to eating several Big Mac's- I have had to sneak in my own Smart Balance popcorn in a large purse for healthier snacking!)
Now, I switched to Smart Balance microwave popcorn because it touted that it was without any of those demon trans fats. So, now I was resting assured that my lovable snack could be healthily consumed.
Until today.
It seems as if researchers have now found a condition called "popcorn lung" (such a silly name for a serious condition!) that has shown up in popcorn factory workers to be linked to "diacetyl". This chemical is used in the butter flavoring found in microwave popcorn as well as other flavored foods.
There has also been one case of this life-threatening disease occurring in a homeowner who consumed "several bags of extra butter flavored microwave popcorn" every day for several years.
Being the savvy consumer that I am (!!), I tried to get in touch with the Smart Balance consumer relations department today, but received a recorded message telling me that no one could take my call at the moment. (They are all probably hiding somewhere and avoiding all calls today!) So, I emailed them through a consumer form that I found on their website. I want to know if they use diacetyl in their microwave popcorn...and, if they do, will they be changing the formulation.
Stay tuned. I will report more when I hopefully hear back from them.
In the meantime I am going to go eat some organic carrots.... : )
They're safe, aren't they?
3 comments:
Well, here's my suggestion:
Take all that maximum processed and minimally good for you micro popcorn, stuff it all along with that dangerous diet soda in the micro at the same time, now unplug the microwave and throw it out the window!!!
Now, get some regular old popping corn and some rice bran oil, and make it on the stovetop like they used to in the old days.
NOTE: Rice Bran Oil has a smoke point of 450-480 degrees, so it won't smoke or break down even at high cooking temperatures for deep frying. It's a great source of vitamin E and rich inlenoleic fatty acids (aka very very good for you!!) I use it for salad oil and in all recipes that call for oil. I'll be happy to send you the information from the company I buy this from if you're interested.
Microwaves are dangerous for a lot of reasons. If you put plastic wrap over the stuff you cook in there, the microwave heats the plastic and distributes those wonderful toxic bits of crude oil in your food! Anything you cook in plastic in there is dangerous to your health, made worse by using the micro at all.
Mine went out the window about 5 years ago, I use the stove or the George Foreman grill and that's all.
Top that healthy home cooked popcorn with some unsalted organic butter and some excellent quality sea salt and you'll get all the healthy and crunchy and wonderful that you want!!!
Interesting, Jana.
Old habits die hard though....: 0
I never heard of rice bran oil...yes, send me the information.
Thanks....
xoxo
Well - I started by putting Rice Bran Oil in the search engine and I got HonestFoods.com, where I was able to find a gallon jug of it and lots of information about the oil to read. I had the gallon sent to me and I use it for everything I cook plus for salad dressing. It's better than olive oil because it can be cooked at higher temperatures and it doesn't break down.
Sorry to hear you're going back to microwave popcorn, maybe one day you'll try the "old fashioned" way and find you like it way better, more flavor, more nutrition and not one ounce of plastic residue in your food to poison you!
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