Forty-three current or former workers at a southwest Missouri microwave-popcorn packaging plant have joined in the suit claiming they sustained lung damage by working with a butter flavoring.
A man who lived near the Jasper Popcorn Co. plant also filed suit in the second round of legal action against International Flavors and Fragrances Inc. of New York and its subsidiary, New Jersey-based Bush Boake Allen Inc. The suits seek damages over use of diacetyl in the flavoring.
Diacetyl is a chemical linked to bronchiolitis obliterans, a rare progressive disease more commonly known as popcorn lung.