Colorado Man Awarded $7.2M in 'Popcorn Lung' Lawsuit

DENVERA U.S. District Court jury on Sept. 19 awarded $7.2 million to a Colorado man who claimed he developed a chronic condition known as popcorn lung" after years of inhaling butter flavoring aroma from microwave popcorn that contained diacetyl, a chemical used in flavoring microwave popcorn.

The lawsuit, filed in 2008 against Glister-Mary Lee Corp. , which makes popcorn, Kroger Co. and its subsidiary Dillon Companies, alleged the defendants were aware of research linking butter flavoring to lung and respiratory system damage and failed to put warning labels on the products.

The complaint alleged 59-year-old Wayne Watson ate two to three bags of microwave popcorn daily for seven years and was diagnosed with bronchiolitis obliterans in 2007 after years of inhaling the butter flavoring aroma.

According to the Chicago Tribune, jurors sided with Watson and found Gilster-Mary Lee Corp., the private-label manufacturer of the popcorn, liable for 80% of the $7,217,961 damages, and the King Soopers supermarket chain and its parent, Kroger Co, liable for 20%.

Diacetyl, a natural byproduct of fermentation, is sometimes used to lend a characteristically buttery flavor to a variety of food products, including margarine, snack foods, candy, baked goods and alcoholic beverages like wine. It was also formerly a regular ingredient in microwave popcorn. However, manufacturers of microwave popcorn generally removed diacetyl from their formulas back in 2007 in the wake of safety concerns.

The ruling comes just six weeks after a University of Minnesota study found possible links between exposure to diacetyl and Alzheimers disease. They found diacetyl intensifies the damaging effects of an abnormal brain protein linked to Alzheimers disease, as well as diacetyl enhanced toxic effects on nerve cells in a laboratory setting, and that it crosses the blood-brain barrier.

In 2010, the U.S. Department of Labors Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) released a Safety Health Information Bulletin (SHIB) for employers and workers involved in the manufacture of flavorings in flavoring, food and beverage manufacturing about the potential health effects associated with exposure to diacetyl. The occurrence of severe lung disease among workers exposed to diacetyl has led some manufacturers to reduce or eliminate the amount of diacetyl in some flavorings, foods and beverages and use substitutes such as acetyl propionyl.