The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency specially tested the chemicals in the aroma of popcorn when it was heated by microwave oven, and found that a substance called diacetyl in the packaging bag seriously exceeded the standard. Workers in several microwave popcorn seasoning workshops in the United States suffer from rare lung diseases, which is also considered to be related to the gas emitted by their exposure to cream popcorn.
Experts believe that there is no conclusion that the gas produced by heating bagged popcorn will cause cancer, but excessive diacetyl is very likely to induce many diseases such as cancer. If you are often exposed to gas containing excessive diacetyl, your body will be damaged. At present, when consumers use microwave ovens to heat popcorn at home, it is best to stay away from the heating area for at least two meters. It is best to open the packaging bag after heating and put it in a ventilated place to blow the smell before eating.
Professor Zaler Xu Lai, Dean of School of Life Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, told reporters that there are many substances containing diacetyl structure, such as diacetamide. A small amount of substances is harmless to the human body, but if you often come into contact with excessive amounts of such substances, it will definitely bring health hazards to the human body.
However, the experts unanimously affirmed that the popcorn produced by street popcorn machines has a very high lead content. Because the tin can of the rice popcorn machine is coated with a layer of lead-containing alloy, when the rice popcorn machine is heated, some lead will be converted into lead vapor and enter the popcorn, and lead will enter the human body with the popcorn, thus damaging the nervous system and digestive system. In particular, children's ability to detoxify lead is weak. Eating popcorn often leads to chronic lead poisoning, with symptoms such as loss of appetite, diarrhea, irritability, purple gums and slow growth and development. Therefore, parents should not let their children eat popcorn often.