Millions of Americans enjoy it as an evening snack while sitting down to watch a movie, but the fact is microwaveable popcorn is one of the unhealthiest, dangerous snacks you could have.

That’s because the flavors woven into microwave popcorn – like the “buttery flavor” in most brands – comes from a chemical that, while actually found in butter, is anything but good for you.

As NaturalNews editor Mike Adams, the Health Ranger and author of the upcoming book, Food Forensics, has noted, the chemical, called diacetyl, is actually so toxic that it is responsible for destroying the lung tissue of workers in microwave popcorn factories, affecting them with a debilitating disease called bronchiolitis obliterans. This condition is so rare that outside of the factor setting it is more commonly known as “popcorn lung,” named so after the primary cause of it.

What’s more regulators have been aware of this risk for decades, but always believed that it only affected people who breathed in remarkably high concentrations of the chemical in factory settings. But, in 2007, Adams noted, a Colorado man who regularly consumed two bags of microwave popcorn daily for a decade was diagnosed with the disease, which told researchers that diacetyl enters the air and lungs when microwave popcorn is prepared. He settled his case for $7 million.

Anxious to reassure consumers that they were on top of the issue, most microwave popcorn makers phased out use of diacetyl, but they replaced it with chemicals that essentially have the same effect.

And today, diacetyl is found in many flavored stack foods and even many foods that are considered “natural.” That means it is vitally important to read ingredients labels for anything you intend to consume, Adams warns, making sure it doesn’t contain any diacetyl (or “yeast extract, either).

But that’s not all. Researchers now wonder if e-cigarettes and “vaping” causes popcorn lung as well.

As reported by Medicine.net:

It is not only microwave popcorn that contains dangerous chemical flavorings such as diacetyl. A study published in 2015 in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives showed that harmful chemicals associated with “popcorn lung” are present in many types of flavored e-cigarettes, particularly those with flavors like fruit and candy that may appeal to young smokers. Of the 51 flavored e-cigarettes tested, flavoring chemicals were found in 47 and diacetyl specifically in 39 samples. This suggests a potentially dangerous level of exposure via e-cigarettes to chemicals that can cause severe lung damage.

Symptoms of popcorn lung include weight loss, night sweats, shortness of breath and coughing.

Sources:

NaturalNews.com

Medicine.net