Fatal Disease From Flavoring Raises Flags

Dr. David Egilman, left, an expert on occupational lung disease from Brown University, explains that the plastic container for butter flavoring does not bear any warning labels, in this Tuesday, March 2, 2004, file photo taken in Joplin, Mo. 30 people suffering from various respiratory illnesses sued New York-based International Flavors and Fragrances Inc. and its subsidiary, Virginia-based Bush Boake Allen Inc. (AP Photo/Pool, T. Rob Brown) (T. Rob Brown - AP)

Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration has allowed flavoring producers and sellers to decide which chemicals are safe, and California's occupational safety agency has delegated health examinations of flavoring workers to an industry-paid doctor.

The difficulty of assessing workplace illness is further complicated by employees who fear reprisal for complaining about hazards and by physicians who lack the training to recognize bronchiolitis obliterans and other occupational threats.

About 70 U.S. companies are involved in the making and sales of flavorings, according to the Flavor and Extract Manufacturing Association, the largest trade group for the $3 billion-a-year industry. Of more than 8,000 employees, only about 3,000 are engaged in the actual production of flavorings. In the much larger food processing industry, however, tens of thousands of workers are estimated to work with flavorings.

More than 150 former popcorn plant workers have sued companies supplying or making the butter flavoring, and more than $100 million has been awarded in jury verdicts or paid in settlements. At least 30 suits are still pending.

The latest suit, filed in February, charges that the Flavor and Extract Manufacturing Association conspired with the other defendants to fraudulently conceal information about the health risks of butter flavoring.

"There is no conspiracy," said John Hallagan, the trade association's lawyer and former science director.

In 1985, consultants for the trade association produced a data sheet indicating that breathing diacetyl is harmful to the respiratory tract and is "capable of producing systemic toxicity."

Hallagan said his organization has cooperated with government scientists, held workshops for its members, and issued an August 2004 report on respiratory health and safety that remains on its Web site.

"I'm not sure what more we could have done to get the word out," he said.

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Information from: The (Baltimore) Sun, http://www.baltimoresun.com

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Information from: The (Baltimore) Sun, http://www.baltimoresun.com