See, you're ahead of the curve when you MoTD. A story about popcorn lung came out today, and just last week, ConAgra announced they were removing diacetyl from their buttered popcorn.
I could swear some sharp reader had pointed out the popcorn lung angle, but my entry mostly focuses on the smelliness. Check out the diacetyl entry from last year here.
Sorry for the sporadic posting, I have been going through gobs of measurements. Back to the regular schedule soon...
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Deeply inhaling from three bags of freshly microwaved popcorn/day for ten years running brought forth a total of ONE reported case of civilian "popcorn lung" amidst 300 million Americans. We then compassionately ask ourselves, "how many dairy cows have their toast buttered side down?"
Serves the industry right for using an organic natural additive. They should have used a chemical with a name like a Dickensian novel. Remember, kids, [b]butter is death[/b]. Now, who is going out to arrest Wisconsin?
Diacetyl is also an undesired (usually) chemical in beer. Homebrewers usually apply techniques to avoid noticeable levels of this chemical in the final product.
Chemgeek:
This is true in most styles, but small amounts are actually encouraged in a few. Among other things, it's said to give Yorkshire-style bitters a bit of a caramelly/buttery edge. I'm not sure how common it is anymore though, since I don't think any Yorkshire brewers still use the old stone square fermenters that encouraged diacetyl retention.