Popcorn fear

By: David Martosko
Newspaper: The Orlando Sentinel

It's absolutely silly for consumers to be afraid of microwave popcorn ("Popcorn: It's Not All Good for You," Wednesday).

Chemicals in buttered-popcorn flavoring have caused illness in a handful of workers, but they are exposed to it for eight hours a day, year-round. That's why they wear hazardous-materials suits now.

Gold miners use cyanide, a much more serious poison, to isolate precious metal from ore. But that doesn't make our wedding rings dangerous to wear.

It's sad that fearing our food has become a distinctly American neurosis. But surely, if we work a little harder, we can find something more realistic to worry about.