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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.

 

News Article Excerpt
May 6, 2007
New York Times, "Popcorn Butter Flavoring-Factory Illnesses Raise Inquiries"
          The workers, by and large, have been young and healthy. None were smokers, and none had any history of lung disease. But after working at plants that produce food flavorings, they all had one thing in common: they could not breathe. Over the last several years, California health officials have been tracking a handful of workers in flavoring factories who have been incapacitated with a rare, life-threatening lung condition — bronchiolitis obliterans — for which there is no cure or treatment.
          Usually found only in people who are poisoned by chemical fires or chemical warfare or in lung transplant patients, bronchiolitis obliterans renders its victims unable to exert even a little energy without becoming winded or faint. "The airways to the lung have been eaten up," said Barbara Materna, the chief of the occupational health branch in the California Department of Health Services. "They can’t work anymore, and they can’t walk a short distance without severe shortness of breath."
          Seven flavoring-factory workers in California are known to have the disease or similarly serious lung damage, and 22 others have had lung tests come back with abnormal results. In each case, scientists and health officials say, the common dominator is exposure to the vapors from a pungent yellow-colored flavoring called diacetyl, best known for giving microwave popcorn its buttery goodness. Officials from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration testified at a Congressional hearing last month on concerns about the additive. Several other federal agencies, including the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency, are also investigating the effects of diacetyl, the subject of scores of civil lawsuits filed on behalf of victims of so-called popcorn lung.

Learn more about butter flavoring lung injuries and "popcorn lung" lawsuits.

About Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP
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.
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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
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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