Real butter or that fake stuff?

Amazing Spider-Man #40 (2002)

Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Artwork by John Romita Jr.
Inks by Scott Hanna, Colors by Dan Kemp

Chef’s Note:  Here we see Peter asking the right questions: real butter or no?

Like many superheroes, he does not have to count calories often to keep himself fit and trim. It’s not the fat content he’s worried about. He’s just making sure it’s not microwave popcorn:

First, there’s perfluorooctanoic acid, a Teflon-like chemical that lines the bag in order to trap in steam, which then causes the popcorn to pop, which can cause infertility in popcorn eaters. Lab rats who were deluged with the chemical all contracted cancer, so I guess this means in some sort of emergency, you should not attempt to douse yourself in microwave popcorn, because that will not help and it will also give you cancer. …

Then, you’ve got diacetyl, a tasty compound responsible for the artificial butter flavoring in Redenbacher compounds. Researchers have noticed a suspiciously high rate of lung disease found in workers in popcorn factories. This condition, called bronchiolitis obliterans but affectionately referred to as popcorn lung, decreases lung capacity in its victims, though the ConAgra Foods and the Orville Reddenbacher brand swears by its products safety in the home, reassuringly issuing a statement claiming, When it comes to diacetyl, the focus of concern is workplace exposure. Regardless of the official company line, ConAgra pledged to de-diacetyl-ize their microwave popcorn bags in 2007, citing concerns for the safety of their workers. Still, I’m not quite sure I’d want to ingest something that, a couple steps prior on the production line, caused a guy to start wheezing.

 

Onomatopoeia: Chhhkk | Chhhkkkk
No real styling but dead on accurate: 3 stars (★★★)