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Popcorn packers blame disease on butter vapors

A trial is set to open tomorrow in the first of a series of claims brought by workers with a rare lung disease that they say was caused by artificial butter vapors at a microwave popcorn plant.

Eric Peoples, who is awaiting a lung transplant, is one of 30 former workers at the Gilster-Mary Lee plant in Jasper suing two makers of the butter flavoring for unspecified damages.

Peoples, who worked at the plant for 17 months, is among eight plant workers with bronchiolitis obliterans, also known as popcorn packers' lung, a severe and irreversible disease that makes it difficult to breathe. Four others also are awaiting lung transplants. An additional 22 former workers claim they have lung problems.

Attorneys for the workers said the illnesses were caused by exposure to chemicals, particularly diacetyl, in butter flavorings made by International Flavors and Fragrances Inc. and its subsidiary Bush Boake Allen Inc.

A lawsuit was filed on behalf of the 30 workers in 2001. But the flavoring companies persuaded a judge last month to separate them into individual cases.

Peoples, 31, was selected to have his case heard first because he is among the sickest.

The connection between the butter flavorings and the workers first came to light in 2000 after a doctor in Kansas City who handles occupational health problems, Allen Parmet, saw six patients with the disorder at once, all from the same small area of southwest Missouri.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health was so alarmed that health officials began testing other popcorn plant workers across the country. In a January report, the agency said its investigations "strongly suggest" that some flavoring chemicals can cause bronchiolitis obliterans.

The agency said Gilster-Mary Lee has cooperated with officials, often taking steps to improve exhaust systems and other conditions in the plant before they were recommended.

Health officials said there is no danger to people who microwave the popcorn and eat it at home. Doctors who investigated for NIOSH said the problem appears to be limited to workers who inhaled large amounts of butter flavoring vapors from the big vats in the mixing room.
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