NewsInferno.com (NY), "Missouri Jury Awards Former Popcorn Plant Worker $15 Million for Injuries Caused by Chemicals Used to Make Butter Flavoring"

          On Friday a former popcorn-plant worker was given $15 million for his claim that his exposure to butter-flavoring fumes led to severe respiratory problems. The case was filed by Stephen McNeely a 35-year-old machine operator from Carthage, Missouri, who filled popcorn bags with salt and butter flavoring.
         McNeely is one of many former workers for International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. of New York, a subsidiary of Bush Boake Allen Inc., to file lawsuits against the company. Last week’s verdict brings the total awarded in the last two years to nearly $53 million.
          The plant where the plaintiffs worked, the Gilster-Mary Lee Corp. microwave popcorn factory in Jasper, Missouri, has paid the employees workers’ compensation and has not been involved in the lawsuits. McNeely worked at the Jasper plant from 1989 to 2001 and developed bronchiolitis obliterans, a serious and unusual lung disease that may require him to get a lung transplant.