Is corn a healthy vegetable?  Obviously it’s a major ingredient – I used corn meal today in a recipe in fact- and its derivatives fuel an uncountable number of people, animals and machines.  Original to the Americas, corn is a traditional food of cultures situated in modernity and of cultures that remain aboriginal.

But I’m worried about additives to a popular food- popcorn.  The offender? diacetyl.

A study commissioned by the Seattle P-I (online newspaper) shows that top-selling butter substitutes, when heated, release vapor from a chemical additive called diacetyl. When inhaled, this vapor has been linked to a rare, sometimes fatal respiratory disease called bronchiolitis obliterans. Yes, many brands have elimiated this additive but there is still the aspect of the professional cook or chef who uses products containing diacetyl constantly over heat as a condition of their employment.  No one outside the industry is examining what consumers and workers who pop corn in theaters, discount stores, school gyms and fairgrounds are being exposed to.

The diacetyl vapors from some of the products are released in such volume that they could pose a significant risk to professional cooks who stand over hot grills or skillets for hours and use large amounts of these butter substitutes, according to the analysis. source