A Queens woman has filed a suit against ConAgra, the makers of microwaveable Act II popcorn, claiming she came down with "popcorn lung" after inhaling the vapors from the buttery snack. Agnes Mercado says she consumed the popcorn twice a day for 16 years, and is just one of many consumers suing over exposure to the additive biacetyl (or diacetyl), which gives the popcorn a buttery taste. She told the Daily News, "I was eating two or three bags of popcorn a day. I didn't know it would destroy my lungs."
Though ConAgra stopped using the additive in 2007, many factory workers have also sued the company for exposure to biacetyl in the workplace, which has cost them over $100 million in settlements. Mercado says inhaling the vapors from 1991 to 2007 resulted in her bronchiolitis obliterans, an airway obstruction that does not respond to any medicine. She now must carry an oxygen tank with her at all times, and has been confined to a desk job at a nursing home in Far Rockaway. Lawyer Wendy Fleishman said, "She just had a horrible reaction to this. It should never have been added to microwave popcorn or any other food." The suit also claims she is likely to require a lung transplant.
