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An
outbreak of a severe lung disease has occurred
among workers exposed to artificial butter flavoring at factories producing microwave
popcorn.
Click
here to contact attorneys and lawyers for
microwave popcorn and other snack industry workers
with lung injuries. |
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| Below is a partial list of factories in the U.S. that reportedly produce microwave popcorn and other snack foods using butter flavoring agents. This list is not meant to imply that any workers at these plants have been injured by exposure to artificial butter flavoring. |
California
Carmi Flavors and Fragrances, Commerce; Conagra Grocery Products, Irvine; Gaslamp Popcorn
Company, San Diego; Mastertaste, Commerce; Mission Flavors and Fragrances, Foothill Ranch; Western Flavors and Fragrances, Livermore;
Connecticut
Lincoln Snacks Company, Stamford; Newman's Own,
Westport
Florida
Barnard Nut Company, Miami; Mastertaste, Lakeland & Planet City.
Illinois
Cornfields, Gurnee; Gilster-Mary Lee Corp.,
Chester; Lee Gilster-Mary Corp., Momence; Tee
Lee Popcorn, Shannon
Indiana
Amish Country Popcorn, Berne; Ellis Popcorn
Co., West Terre Haute; Family Time Popcorn,
Inc., Valparaiso; Gettelfinger Popcorn, Palmyra;
Jones Popcorn, New Albany; Kirk's Popcorn Co.,
Topeka; Vogel Popcorn, Corydon; Weaver Popcorn
Co., Markle, Crawfordsville, Huntingburg, Van
Buren, Indianapolis & New Richmond; Yoder
Popcorn Inc., Topeka
Iowa
American Pop Corn Co., Sioux City; Conagra Foods,
Hamburg; Manson Industries, Manson; Noble Distributor,
Sac City
Kentucky
Ellis Popcorn Company, Murray
Massachusetts
New England Pretzel & Popcorn, Lawrence
Minnesota
Conagra Foods, Minneapolis
Missouri
Mary Lee Packaging Corp., Perryville; Mastertaste, Fenton & Greenville.
Nebraska
Lincoln Snacks Company, Lincoln
New Jersey
Mastertaste, Clark & Teterboro.
Pennsylvania
Reist Popcorn Company, Mount Joy
South
Carolina
International Cup Corp., Bennettsville; Soller,
Bennettsville
Tennessee
Mastertaste, Crossville.
Wisconsin
Mastertaste, Waunakee.
Canada
Mastertaste, Granby
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| December 3, 2006 |
Cleveland Plain Dealer, "Ohio popcorn plant workers say flavoring hurts lungs" |
Popcorn is a source of civic pride in Marion, Ohio, home of a yearly popcorn festival, a museum that claims the world's largest popcorn popper collection, and a factory that makes ACT II and Orville Redenbacher's microwave popcorn. Marion's popcorn industry has also been a source of lawsuits when workplace inhalation of the powdery butter flavoring that coats microwave popcorn was linked to a potentially fatal lung disease called bronchiolitis obliterans, which inflames the lungs and results in severe, permanent shortness of breath. More... |
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| October 21, 2006 |
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, "Struggling for air: Flavoring chemical tied to severe lung disease remains unregulated" |
A lean and fit 35-year-old Milwaukee man had been working at a local flavoring plant for just six months when he collapsed while playing basketball with his buddies. He felt like he was hyper-ventilating. He couldn't figure it out. He always played basketball. Then he noticed his sweat: It was bright orange. Around the same time in 2004, he began to cough and wheeze and noticed a regular shortness of breath. More... |
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| August 30, 2006 |
Baltimore
Sun, "Potential
hazards to consumers from flavoring agent unchecked" |
Agencies
yet to assess risk of inhaling vapors of chemical linked
to workers' lung disease
Millions
of Americans are exposed regularly to vapors released when they heat products
containing the same synthetic butter flavoring blamed
for destroying the lungs of workers in popcorn and
flavoring factories. But public health activists say no one in
government has stepped up to assess whether consumers
are at risk. More... |
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| July 31, 2006 |
Sacramento
Bee, "Investigative
Report: Flavoring agent destorys lungs" |
Many
public health physicians and scientists believe they are
on the verge of uncovering an occupational health epidemic
among the thousands of men and women who have worked on
production lines in the nation's flavoring factories who
were exposed to the chemical diacetyl. More... |
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| July 28, 2006 |
Deseret Morning News, "Popcorn butter flavor risky to workers? EPA is accused of withholding results of study on vapors" |
The
Environmental Protection Agency has been withholding the
results of a 2003 study that may indicate potential health
risks from inhaling artificial butter flavor vapors from
microwave popcorn, a group of scientists and former Occupational
Safety and Health Administration officials say. More... |
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| July 26, 2006 |
Los Angeles Times, "Limits Sought on Worker Exposure to Flavor Agent" |
Emergency
safety standards are needed to counter a widening outbreak
of lung disease among workers exposed to a common ingredient
in microwave popcorn, health experts and labor unions said
Tuesday. More...
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| June 3, 2006 |
Baltimore Sun, "Flavoring perils get harder look -- Probe grows; chemicals linked to lung disease" |
A federal health agency says it is "greatly expanding" an investigation of the potential hazards of diacetyl and the butter flavoring that contains it and other flavoring chemicals that have been linked to nearly 200 cases of lung disease among factory workers who make or use the chemicals. More... |
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About
Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP
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| Lieff
Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, is one of the largest
law firms in the nation that represents only plaintiffs.
We have a team of personal injury lawyers, assisted by multiple
nurses, scientific advisors and medical experts, dedicated
to advancing our clients interests, including clients that
have suffered permanent lung injuries. We are currently
representing workers with "popcorn workers" lung
disease. |
| For the last five years, the National
Law Journal has selected
our firm as one of the top plaintiffs' law firms in
the nation. We have represented thousands of persons in
personal injury lawsuits across America, including residents
of Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado,
Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho,
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana,
Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri,
Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire,
New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma,
Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee,
Texas, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin,
West Virginia and Wyoming. To learn about the competitive
advantages we offer clients with personal injuries, please click
here. |
| Lieff
Cabraser attorneys provide legal advice and practice law
for clients in federal courts throughout the United States
and in state courts where we are licensed to practice. |
| In
states where we are not licensed to practice, we have affiliations
with local attorneys who serve as co-counsel with our firm,
including attorneys throughout the midwest. For example,
in Indiana, we are associated with the Indiana law firm
of Cohen & Malad, LLP in this litigation. In Missouri,
we are associated with attorney Kenneth B. McClain of the
law firm Humphrey, Farrington & McClain, P.C. Please
read our disclaimer. |
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Lieff
Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP
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Copyright
© 2007 Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein,
LLP
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"Popcorn
firms removing diacetyl linked to lung ailments
in factory workers"
December 18, 2007, Associated Press
The nation's four biggest makers of microwave popcorn
have removed a flavoring chemical linked to a lung
ailment in popcorn plant workers from nearly all
their products. The companies say all their microwave
popcorn recipes should be changed by January. More...
To read more press articles on the Popcorn
Lung litigation, click here. |
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| In 2007, Lieff Cabraser
attorneys, with local co-counsel, obtained a $50
million verdict against Daimler Chrysler in
a wrongful death action. Our firm has participated
in over thirty-five $100 million-plus settlements
and verdicts, including ten
cases in excess of $1 billion. |
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