Post by Radrook Admin on Dec 25, 2020 5:00:49 GMT -5
Beware of Popcorn
As a kid I wasn’t particularly fond of popcorn. But recently and for some reason, I developed a constant craving for it to the extent of becoming a popcorn freak. Eating a large bag at one sitting wasn't unusual and going straight for the bagged popcorn at the grocery store became a prime directive. Not eating popcorn made the day gloomy. So I would brave whatever weather challenged me to get my popcorn-eating craving satisfied.
Oh the glorious taste and the feel of my molars efficiently and victoriously doing all that entertaining crunching as I watched TV! The sweet aroma of those popcorn kernels was as if being in heaven on Earth.
Well, everything was going dandy until I decided to pop them myself. After all, why spend more money than necessary? The lady at the counter suggested I use one tablespoon of oil or maybe two. So that's what I used. Waited for the oil to sizzle and poured in a huge volume. Result? Acrid smoke began coming out from the edges of the top of the pot and when I removed it I found that had not popped, and the ones that had were partially burned runts. Worse still, the apartment was full of acrid smoke and it is a wonder that the smoke detectors were not triggered.
My eyes were irritated as well as my throat and lungs, but I figured that next time this would not happen if I used more oil. So next time I ignored the lady's advice and made sure that the kernels were all submerged.
By golly! It worked! They started popping and the acrid smoke was kept to a minimum. But there is the crux of the matter. It wasn't totally prevented. So gradually the apartment began smelling like burnt popcorn and my lungs and eyes began reacting until I awoke recently feeling as if I was choking to death. To add to the struggling misery, acid reflux was added to the fray forcing me to take a swig of Pepto Bismol and to reluctantly drink several cups of the heavily-chlorinated foul-smelling water from the tap in order to neutralize the danger of corrosive damage to my esophagus and stomach lining.
In the meantime, the residual popcorn fumes kept me stumbling around trying to get enough oxygen into my system to prevent me from blacking out as I groped in the semi dark bedroom for my artificial tears so that I could see.
To make a long story short, I did research on the Internet about the health risks of eating popcorn and breathing burnt-popcorn-fumes and found this:
Many bags of buttered microwave popcorn contain the chemical diacetyl, which has been causing lung problems for factory workers in popcorn plants for years. Dubbed popcorn lung, this condition develops after repeated exposure to the aromatic additive, causing serious lung damage. A case of consumer exposure was also observed in a man who prepared and ate several bags of buttered microwave popcorn each day for a number of years, notes the University of Illinois. While this particular case hasn't been proven, it is prudent to open buttered microwave bags near an exhaust fan and to avoid breathing the fumes.
www.livestrong.com/article/353034-popcorn-health-risks/
According to the National Cancer Institute, consuming food that has been cooked beyond a temperature of 248 degrees fahrenheit, which includes burned popcorn, may carry a health risk due to the formation of possibly carcinogenic acrylamide. Inhaling the smoke from burned popcorn could also pose a health risk.
www.reference.com/food/burnt-popcorn-bad-c3185cc71abc7506#
Rare, Deadly Lung Disease Hits Microwave Popcorn Lover
www.webmd.com/lung/news/20070905/microwave-popcorn-linked-to-lung-harm#1
Oh the glorious taste and the feel of my molars efficiently and victoriously doing all that entertaining crunching as I watched TV! The sweet aroma of those popcorn kernels was as if being in heaven on Earth.
Well, everything was going dandy until I decided to pop them myself. After all, why spend more money than necessary? The lady at the counter suggested I use one tablespoon of oil or maybe two. So that's what I used. Waited for the oil to sizzle and poured in a huge volume. Result? Acrid smoke began coming out from the edges of the top of the pot and when I removed it I found that had not popped, and the ones that had were partially burned runts. Worse still, the apartment was full of acrid smoke and it is a wonder that the smoke detectors were not triggered.
My eyes were irritated as well as my throat and lungs, but I figured that next time this would not happen if I used more oil. So next time I ignored the lady's advice and made sure that the kernels were all submerged.
By golly! It worked! They started popping and the acrid smoke was kept to a minimum. But there is the crux of the matter. It wasn't totally prevented. So gradually the apartment began smelling like burnt popcorn and my lungs and eyes began reacting until I awoke recently feeling as if I was choking to death. To add to the struggling misery, acid reflux was added to the fray forcing me to take a swig of Pepto Bismol and to reluctantly drink several cups of the heavily-chlorinated foul-smelling water from the tap in order to neutralize the danger of corrosive damage to my esophagus and stomach lining.
In the meantime, the residual popcorn fumes kept me stumbling around trying to get enough oxygen into my system to prevent me from blacking out as I groped in the semi dark bedroom for my artificial tears so that I could see.
To make a long story short, I did research on the Internet about the health risks of eating popcorn and breathing burnt-popcorn-fumes and found this:
Popcorn Health Risks
Popcorn Lung
Many bags of buttered microwave popcorn contain the chemical diacetyl, which has been causing lung problems for factory workers in popcorn plants for years. Dubbed popcorn lung, this condition develops after repeated exposure to the aromatic additive, causing serious lung damage. A case of consumer exposure was also observed in a man who prepared and ate several bags of buttered microwave popcorn each day for a number of years, notes the University of Illinois. While this particular case hasn't been proven, it is prudent to open buttered microwave bags near an exhaust fan and to avoid breathing the fumes.
www.livestrong.com/article/353034-popcorn-health-risks/
Is Burnt Popcorn Bad for You?
According to the National Cancer Institute, consuming food that has been cooked beyond a temperature of 248 degrees fahrenheit, which includes burned popcorn, may carry a health risk due to the formation of possibly carcinogenic acrylamide. Inhaling the smoke from burned popcorn could also pose a health risk.
www.reference.com/food/burnt-popcorn-bad-c3185cc71abc7506#
Microwave Popcorn Linked to Lung Harm
Rare, Deadly Lung Disease Hits Microwave Popcorn Lover
www.webmd.com/lung/news/20070905/microwave-popcorn-linked-to-lung-harm#1