Popcorn: What You Don’t Know But Should
Popcorn often is thought of as a ‘safe’ snack, especially for children. How about “butter-flavored microwave” popcorn? Well, think twice before you open that just-popped bag of butter-flavored microwave popcorn.
One of the most erudite websites regarding food information and nutrition is NutritionFacts.org with Dr. Michael Greger, MD, who produces videos that expose the real science behind what’s in much of the food we eat.
Dr. Greger’s recent and exceptional video “Butter-Flavored Microwave Popcorn or Breathing” exemplifies his dedication to science rather than food processing technology for which this writer congratulates him wholeheartedly. If only all MDs had Dr. Greger’s zeal for exposing the hazards of food chemicals and food chemistry applications, we probably would have safer agriculture and food processing industries that would not be permitted to put verifiable poisons into the foods we eat without being held accountable for causing health problems.
The tobacco industry’s 1950s “cigarette science” ought to be a prime example of what happens when doctors wake up to the real science of what’s in tobacco, food, pharmaceuticals, and vaccines.
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Butter-flavored popcorn is only one of hundreds of examples where the food processing industry misleads us into believing chemicals are better than natural ingredients, as in the butter-flavored microwave popcorn case, i.e., real dairy butter.
Substituting butter flavoring with a dreadful chemical, i.e., diacetyl, [1] for real butter falls into the classification of “maybe more than you bargained for.” Did you ever think that your lungs could be seriously damaged from eating butter-flavored microwave popcorn? Take specific note of what Dr. Greger points out in his video about workers who deal with diacetyl in factories and people who eat butter-flavored microwave popcorn.
Nevertheless, after reviewing the scientific studies, which corroborate ‘popcorn lung’ that Dr. Greger includes in his video, consumers still may need to question something Dr. Greger didn’t address: genetically modified corn, also known as GMO corn. Consumers ought to be asking what else or what added dimension(s) does GMO-corn contribute to butter-flavored microwave popcorn, since 76 percent of planted acres in the USA is Bt-corn, while 85 percent of planted acres in the USA is Ht-corn (herbicide tolerant). [2] According to the USDA,
Herbicide-tolerant (HT) crops, developed to survive application of specific herbicides that previously would have destroyed the crop along with the targeted weeds, provide farmers with a broader variety of options for effective weed control. [3]
[4]All the spraying and application of herbicides to corn crops growing in the fields need to be questioned by USDA, FDA, and consumers as to how much herbicides or Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is taken up by plant roots and translocated in growing corn stalks and each ear of corn that is eaten as corn on the cob, processed into popping corn, or other corn products like high fructose corn syrup, corn starch, corn flour/meal, corn flakes, corn oil, etc.
Why should that question be asked? Well, the University of California Agriculture & Natural Resources website lists its Before Planting, At Planting, and After Planting Corn Herbicide Treatment Table, which indicates the chemicals used in the widespread practice of spraying corn.
However, to appreciate more about the complexities of GMO corn, readers ought to check out the following:
Genetically Modified Corn Study Reveals Health Damage and Cover-up
Bt-maize (corn) during pollination may trigger disease
http://www.responsibletechnology.org/gm-maize-during-pollination
65 Health Risks of GM Foods
http://www.responsibletechnology.org/gmo-dangers/65-health-risks/1notes
Perhaps this popcorn predicament indicates just one more reason for purchasing and eating organically-grown crops and non-processed foods.
Notes:
Catherine J Frompovich (website) is a retired natural nutritionist who earned advanced degrees in Nutrition and Holistic Health Sciences, Certification in Orthomolecular Theory and Practice plus Paralegal Studies.
Her work has been published in national and airline magazines since the early 1980s. Catherine authored numerous books on health issues along with co-authoring papers and monographs with physicians, nurses, and holistic healthcare professionals. She has been a consumer healthcare researcher 35 years and counting.
Catherine’s latest book, A Cancer Answer, Holistic BREAST Cancer Management, A Guide to Effective & Non-Toxic Treatments, is available on Amazon.com and as a Kindle eBook.
Two of Catherine’s more recent books on Amazon.com are Our Chemical Lives And The Hijacking Of Our DNA, A Probe Into What’s Probably Making Us Sick (2009) and Lord, How Can I Make It Through Grieving My Loss, An Inspirational Guide Through the Grieving Process (2008).
