6 | PopCorners
for children age 5 and under, the American
Academy of Pediatricians has advised par-
ents to prohibit their children from eating it.
In fact, several years ago, the AAP petitioned
manufacturers to put a warning label on their
popcorn. As if there wasn’t enough to pro-
vide warning when reviewing certain labels,
particularly with microwave popcorn. For
instance, microwaving produces molecular
structures known as “radiolytic compounds”
which diminish the healing capacity of white
blood cells as well as the oxygen-carrying
ability of molecules in red blood cells. Mi-
crowave popcorn is also laden with artery-
clogging transfats and can be packaged in
bags which contain perfluorooctanoic acid
(PFOA) which has been linked to cancer and
infertility. When heated, PFOA can report-
edly be released as a gas and absorbed into
the popcorn. There’s also diacetyl, an ingre-
dient use to impart butter flavoring which
has been attributed as a cause of lung disease
