THE DIACETYL SCANDAL: A CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY
Diacetyl is an artificial flavoring used to impart the taste of butter in popcorn, pastries, frozen foods, and candy.
Bronchiolitis obliterans is a severe, disabling, permanent, and often fatal lung disease.
There is strong evidence that bronchiolitis obliterans is caused by exposure to diacetyl.
1977: Study showed that diacetyl applied to the skin of rabbits resulted in lung destruction (Baltimore Sun, 2006).
1985: NIOSH investigates the occurrence of cases resembling bronchilitis obliterans in workers of a company that mixed liquid flavorings with cornstarch for the baking industry (Kanwal, Richard, MD MPH).
Consultants for the Flavor and Extract Manufacturing Association produced a
data sheet that said that breathing diacetyl is harmful to the respiratory tract and is “capable of producing system toxicity” (Baltimore Sun, 2006).
1992-2000: Eight workers of the Gilster-Mary Lee popcorn plant in Jasper, Missouri, developed a lung disease called bronchiolitis obliterans, a rare disease in which lung tissue is permanently destroyed (NIOSH Fact Sheet, 2002).
2000: The outbreak of lung disease is identified in the Jasper, Mo. popcorn factory while other outbreaks were identified in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, and Indiana (Baltimore Sun, 2006).
Missouri Department of Health asks NIOSH to determine if these cases of lung disease were due to an exposure at the plant in Missouri.
NIOSH found that workers at the Gilster-Mary Lee popcorn plant in Jasper, Mo. who spent more time in areas with higher air concentrations of diacetyl were more likely to have abnormal airflow in their breathing tests. Workers reported cough and shortness of breather 2.6 times as often as would be expected based on US population health data. Higher exposures over time were associated with lower airflow (NIOSH Fact Sheet, 2002).
NIOSH made recommendations for improvements to the ventilation of the Missouri plant which the company followed (NIOSH Fact Sheet, 2002).
2001: German chemical company shares animal study results conducted in 1993 that showed that rats subjected to diacetyl suffered significant lung injury and many died (Baltimore Sun, 2006).
2002: NIOSH presents its 2000 findings to OSHA, state health departments, and the flavoring industry. Findings also published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
OSHA’s scientists begin studying diacetyl, urging their leaders to take broader
Action (Baltimore Sun, 2006).
Flavor and Extract Manufacturing Association downplays diacetyl hazard in comments to NIOSH (Baltimore Sun, 2006).
2004: Flavor and Extract Manufacturing issues its report on precautions in use of flavorings.
California OSHA officials seek NIOSH’s help after Los Angeles worker is diagnosed with bronchiolitis obliterans.
2005: California OSHA officials let flavorings industry-paid consultant investigate workers’ health in the flavorings plants (Baltimore Sun, 2006).
Present (2006):
Diacetyl and other flavoring chemicals have been linked to nearly 200 cases of lung disease among factory workers who make or use the chemicals. It has killed at least three (Baltimore Sun, 2006).
More than a $100 million has been awarded in jury verdicts and paid in settlements in cases brought by former popcorn plant workers against companies supplying or making the butter flavoring (Baltimore Sun, 2006).
The latest suit, filed in February, charges that the Flavor and Extract Manufacturing Association “conspired with the other defendants to fraudulently conceal the true facts regarding the health consequences of the butter flavoring…” (Baltimore Sun, 2006).
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