Consumer News-Popcorn bag danger

UNDATED (WJRT) (WJRT) -- (05/02/06)-- What other snack whose smell alone gets your cubicle mates to stand up and ask "who's got popcorn?"

It's a snack that's nearly impossible to resist.

With the instant gratification of microwavable versions -it's no wonder Americans gobble up some 17.3 billion quarts of it a year.

Scientists are taking a second look at the packaging of this snack food staple.

A lot of us like butter with our popcorn, even if it's in the form of artificial flavoring. But flurotelemers?

A recent FDA study found that a flurotelemer, a coating used to make microwave popcorn bags grease resistant, is seeping into popcorn.

"On the food ingredient list it doesn't include popcorn, butter and flurotelemers," said former DuPont senior scientist Glenn Evers.

Evers recently brought a 1987 internal memo to the government's attention. The company memo warned that more of the chemical was coming off the paper than originally thought. "Even before we cook the popcorn, the butter is already contaminated with a paper flurochemical that will be absorbed into your blood and stay in your blood for a long, long time."

FDA scientists say popcorn is still safe and there is no concern, especially in the small amounts of flurotelemers that generally show up. But the FDA also acknowledges that in recent tests, the chemical, similar to the coating found on non-stick pans, did come off popcorn bags at a higher rate than almost any other way one might encounter it.

Now, another government study complicates the picture a little bit. An independent scientific review board for the EPA found perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, which can be extracted from the chemical, does cause cancer in animals and is "likely to be carcinogenic to humans."

Further testing is underway. We called DuPont, which makes the grease-resistant coating for many popcorn bags. This is what they said in a phone interview: "We are very confident in the results of the FDA study and we feel consumers should feel safe about using this product too."

The company has promised to reduce emissions of PFOA from manufacturing plants.

The popcorn council says companies are moving away from using this coating on their bags, but if consumers are still concerned about potentially harmful chemicals getting in popcorn, the environmental working group offers this solution: Take a brown paper lunch bag, put in a quarter cup of popcorn, that's probably about a couple spoonfuls of popcorn. Then you want to fold your lunch bag and place two staples just to keep the popcorn from jumping around your microwave. You want to keep the staples kind of far apart from one another. Place the bag in the microwave  and pop.

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