MAN WITH POPCORN LUNG FILES LAWSUIT: Man ate 2 bags of popcorn a day

A Denver man, Wayne Watson, has filed a lawsuit Tuesday claiming injury from microwave popcorn. The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court names The Kroger Co. and two of its divisions: grocery stores King Soopers’ parent company, Dillon Companies Inc., and food distributor Inter-American Products Inc.Wayne Watson has filed a lawsuit against The Kroger Company and two of its divisions, claiming the butter flavoring on their microwave popcorn made him sick.

Watson says he developed "popcorn lung" after eating two bags of popcorn a day his case of “popcorn lung” and his two-bags-a-day diet gained national attention last year when doctors at National Jewish Hospital diagnosed him with the rare lung condition that has been linked to the flavor chemical diacetyl.

Popcorn lung, officially called bronchiolitis obliterans, generally has been associated with people who worked in microwave popcorn plants mixing large vats of flavors. Hundreds of workers have said they have severe lung disease or other respiratory illnesses from inhaling diacetyl vapors. The chemical has been the subject of hundreds of lawsuits against the companies that that produce or use the butter flavoring.

Diacetyl is a naturally occurring chemical compound that gives butter its flavor. It is also found in cheese and some wines, according to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and health. It has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a flavor ingredient