For years, microwave popcorn has been considered a convenient and healthy snack. The only drawback to microwave popcorn has been an office worker stinking up a cubicle farm, microwave mistiming yielding the occasional burnt bag, and the ever present unpopped kernels. But, many people have started to rethink the healthiness of microwave popcorn. On April 24, 2007, the Occupation Safety and Health Administration announced a National Emphasis Program (NEP) to address the potential hazards of butter flavorings containing diacetyl. Several workers at a factory for manufacturing microwave popcorn were diagnosed with
One alternative to microwave popcorn is to use a Hot Air Popper. Due to health concerns and our unreliable microwave, we selected the Presto Poplite Hot Air Popcorn Popper to make our late night snack. The Presto Poplite Hot Air Popcorn Popper is a no frills air popper that sells for about $20 at Walmart. The air popper can make a huge bowl of popcorn in just a few minutes. Since it uses hot air to heat the kernels, there is no oil or grease. This saves us a considerable amount of calories. Because the popcorn does not contain grease and butter flavorings, there is no need to worry about diacetyl. This popper simply yields a nice bowl of popcorn that you need to season to your own tastes. We have the freedom to control the amount of salt, butter, and other seasonings in our popcorn.
The Presto Poplite Hot Air Popcorn Popper is easy to operate. You simply remove the 1/2 cup measuring cup from the top, fill it level with popcorn kernels, dump the kernels in the popcorn maker, return the cup to the top, and plug in the popcorn maker. A jet of hot air comes up from the bottom of the Presto Poplite Hot Air Popcorn Popper to heat the kernels and circulate them. As the kernels pop, they are blown upward in the popper and they are directed out the side and into your waiting bowl. If you fill the cup, you’ll need a big bowl.
Generally, the fluffy popcorn tumbles out and the heavier kernels stay in the popper until they pop. Some unpopped kernels hitch a ride out of the popper on freshly popped popcorn. Out of a 1/2 cup of Orville Reddenbacker popcorn, we had 22 unpopped kernels. I’d estimate the number of unpopped kernels to be about half of the amount found in a typical bag of microwave popcorn. One drawback to the air popper is that the kernels cool rapidly in comparison to microwave popcorn or traditional oil poppers which trap the heat in the bag or popper. In addition, a few pieces of overenthusiastic popcorn usually bounce out of your bowl during the controlled chaos of the popping process.
Overall, I believe the Presto Poplite Hot Air Popcorn Popper is clean and convenient and makes an excellent addition to any kitchen.bronchiolitis obliterans, a serious lung disease. While three government agencies advised that there was no health risk to consumers since the amount of exposure to industrial workers was far higher than the exposure of an occasional popcorn popper, people started to worry. Then in September of 2007, a pulmonary specialist in Denver announced that microwave popcorn was suspected in the death of a man who ate several bags of microwave popcorn per day. It was enough to cause some people to seek alternatives.
Sources:
“Microwave Popcorn: No Consumer Risk Known,” Daniel J. DeJoon, WebMD Medical News.
http://www.webmd.com/news/20040312/microwave-popcorn-no-consumer-risk-known
OSHA National News Release. “U.S. Department of Labor’s OSHA announces focus on health hazards of microwave popcorn butter flavorings containing diacetyl,” National News Release 07-610-NAT, 4/27/2007.
http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=NEWS_RELEASES&p;_id=14118
“Doctor Links a Man’s Illness to A Microwave Popcorn Habit,” Gardiner Harris, NY Times, September 5, 2007
