Bronchiolitis obliterans
Fatal Flavorings, Lifesaving Labelings
Junk food kills – even if you don’t eat it
Over the last few months, I’ve been reporting to you about DuPont’s cancer-causing C-8/PFOA chemical used to coat the insides of packaging materials for many kinds of junk foods (Pizza boxes, candy wrappers, snack chip bags, etc.). But now, there’s news about the deadly risks of ACTUAL INGREDIENTS in some popular junk foods
According to an April 24th Associated Press investigative report, a rare, yet often fatal lung condition called bronchiolitis obliterans has sprung up in abnormally high numbers among junk-food industry workers – most specifically among those who make the flavorings for snack chips, certain candies (like butterscotch), and especially popcorn.
The article states that Federal investigators have linked the disease (which constricts the airways of the lung by scarring or thickening of tissue) to prolonged exposure to airborne diacetyl, a naturally occurring substance that is also synthesized in massive quantities by the junk-food biz to enhance various flavors or to transmit a buttery taste – hence the chemical’s prevalence in the popcorn industry.
The correlation between the industry’s diacetyl usage and the killer lung disease started becoming apparent back in 2000. At that time, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) was alerted to a rash of bronchiolitis obliterans cases in a Missouri popcorn plant. Since then, the agency has linked diacetyl exposure to as many as 200 junk-food industry workers – including at least 3 fatalities
Of course, the FDA has allowed the 70 or so food flavoring companies in the U.S. to self-police with regard to both chemical additive use and internal handling procedures at their plants, the article maintains. Sounds a lot like the way they govern the drug industry, doesn’t it?
Since word began to spread about the correlation between diacetyl and b. obliterans, 150 or more industry workers have filed suit against flavoring makers. So far, more than $100 million dollars has been awarded to these plaintiffs, with approximately 30 suits still pending
Hmmm. Using diacetyl must really save the junk-food business a lot of money if they’re willing to keep paying out the nose in lawsuit settlements instead of finding another way to make their snacks taste buttery – like maybe by using REAL BUTTER. Nah, that would be too expensive.
But what I’m wondering is this: Why isn’t anybody investigating whether people who frequently eat or prepare these foods (like movie-theatre staff, as just one example) are at similar risk?
And in more “hazardous inhaled substance” news
The FDA is taking (on) gas
In a bold and rare stroke of bureaucratic pro-activism, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is proposing some new regulations requiring more stringent labeling of medical gases like oxygen, nitrous oxide, and others
Why? Because according to a recent Medical News Today article, at least 18 injuries and 8 deaths to patients have resulted from negligence in the administration of these various gases over the last decade.
What a shock – and here I thought the highly qualified help at hospitals and doctors’ offices were infallible!
The article mentions several types of frequently made mistakes, including the inadvertent administration of non-medical (industrial) gases in place of needed oxygen or others, and the contamination of containers housing medical gases with cleaning solvents and other compounds. The FDA plans to finalize the new guidelines after a 90-day “public comment” period
I have a comment for them: Make sure the labels use only small words, so the medical staff at hospitals can understand them. They seem to have problems with complex words like “For Industrial Use Only.”
Oh, and make sure they’re in more languages than just English. That’s the way we’re headed, you know?
Never buttering-up the brutal truth,
William Campbell Douglass II, MD
