Variety may indeed be the spice of life, but it is just a word until new and unique flavors add something to the mix and provide some of those variations. However, flavorings have met with a degree of controversy of late, as have manufacturer efforts to add diverse new flavors to traditional lines.
Butter flavoring in microwave popcorn has been the latest ingredient to enter the realm of negative opinion. New research on pentanedione (PD), the ingredient which imparts microwave popcorn its flavor and aroma, found it to be a “respiratory hazard that can also alter gene expression in the brain of rats.” That summary came from a study published in the September 2012 issue of The American Journal of Pathology. It further expounded that acute PD exposure has respiratory toxicity comparable to diacetyl in laboratory animals.