Microwave Popcorn: FoodCrack

This New York Times article will disturb you. The article focuses on the artificial compound diacetyl which lends microwave popcorn its massively overpowering buttery smell. When heated, apparently, it "becomes a vapor and, when inhaled over a long period of time, seems to lead the small airways in the lungs to become swollen and scarred." Naturally, microwave popcorn plant workers are highly susceptible: Exposure to the chemical has been linked to hundreds of cases of lung-damage. This is called "popcorn workers' lung."

Anyone who has ever walked into a collegiate dormitory knows the smell of diacetyl all to well--It is the anti-scent of the healthful, the purest example of the addictive power of manufactured foods. Quite frankly, the smell is sublime and awful. And now consumers are getting sick.

I suppose this is what happens when two of humanities worst atrocities, artificial flavorings and microwaves, fuse together to create a third, more evil, atrocity: FoodCrack.

FoodCrack is the terror of the American diet. FoodCrack, like crack-cocaine, is cheap, addictive, shockingly unhealthy, and easily accessible. Think McDonalds. Think Suzy Q's. Think Sno Balls.

FoodCrack is clearly not food. Unfortunately, many Americans are FoodCrack Pookies.

The man whom the title of this article refers too was clearly addicted to FoodCrack. Apparently, he ate at least two bags a day, every day, for 10 years. The man’s doctor says: “When he broke open the bags, after the steam came out, he would often inhale the fragrance because he liked it so much.” Unfortunately, his lungs looked much the same of those who suffer from popcorn workers' lung.

Poor fat guy. He quit eating the popcorn and lost 50 pounds in 6 months. Unfortunately, his lungs seem to be irrevocably damaged.