Dangerous Flavorings Webinar

Inhaling certain flavoring chemicals have been found to cause permanent lung disease in workers. 

On October 13, 2016 National COSH hosted a free webinar on chemical hazards in the food industry. Participating were:

• Peter Dooley of National COSH.
• Anne McGinness Kearse and Scott Hall, attorneys for Motley Rice, discussing how workers who work in facilities that process coffee, candy, microwave popcorn, and other products can be exposed to flavoring chemicals linked to dangerous lung diseases.
• Robert Harrison, director of the University of California, San Francisco Occupational Health Services, on the medical issues involved in flavoring exposures and his involvement in the development of California’s regulations for flavoring chemicals.
• Mark Nicas,  director of the Industrial Hygiene Program in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the University of California Berkeley on some of the specific job tasks and conditions that expose workers to flavoring chemicals.

Other Resources

Fact sheet on the hazards of chemical flavors

Information on chemical flavors in Spanish

Video about the hazards of chemical flavors