April 10, 2004

The Tribune (Port St. Lucie/Fort Pierce, FL), "Ohio man's lungs crippled by vapors at popcorn plant, doctors say"

          A coughing fit jerks Keith Campbell's body tight, as if he's being strangled by invisible demons. When the spasm passes, he leans his head back into his worn orange recliner and closes his eyes to let the dizziness pass.
          Until two years ago, Campbell, 45 of Caledonia, Ohio, prided himself on being able to work 12-hour factory shifts and still take on odd jobs. These days, a trip to Wal-Mart leaves him exhausted. He doesn't have the strength to hold his baby grandson for long.
          Doctors say that Campbell's lungs are crippled from breathing butter flavoring vapors at a microwave popcorn factory in nearby Marion, Ohio. He worked for two years as a flavoring mixer at the ConAgra Foods plant, measuring and dumping butter-flavored powders and pastes into heated vats of soybean oil.
          Company officials assured employees that the plant was safe in 2001, after outbreaks of lung disease had been reported among workers at a microwave popcorn plant in Jasper, Mo., Campbell said. ConAgra still says the plant was safe then, and continues to be so.
          Now totally disabled, Campbell is one of 19 plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed against three companies who made butter flavorings used at the Marion plant. Such a fate never occurred to the father of five when he started working at the plant in May 2000. Working conditions seemed less strenuous than at his previous job at a local meat packing plant. The powders and fumes bothered him a little, and he felt tired at the end of the day, but "I worked 12-hour shifts, so I figured I should be tired," Campbell said.