Source:
Seattle Post-IntelligencerNorth America's largest union for hotel, restaurant and kitchen workers has called on manufacturers of cooking oils to stop using a lung-destroying butter-flavoring additive called diacetyl, and members of Congress have called for a federal investigation into the use of the additive, including where and how it's being used and whether workers are being harmed.
"It could pose a serious health risk to commercial cooks and UNITE HERE is calling for fast action by the food industry to cease the use of diacetyl flavoring in commercial and home cooking products," the union representing 450,000 workers said in a written statement.
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The analysis, conducted by the certified laboratory LabCor, found diacetyl vapors were released in all the products when the manufacturer's recommended amount of margarine, oil or spray for a specific recipe was heated.
The highest levels of diacetyl were found in the testing of butter-flavored pan, grill and saute oils used by professional cooks. An extrapolation of the toxic vapors released over a typical four- to five-hour breakfast rush matched or exceeded the diacetyl levels found in some microwave popcorn plants where hundreds of workers were sickened. The deaths of at least three from bronchiolitis obliterans -- inflammation of the small airways in the lungs -- were attributed to exposure to the chemical butter flavoring.
Read more:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/347255_diacetyl14.html
A list of past P-I articles about diacetyl can be found
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/specials/diacetyl">here.