Man Awarded $7.2 Million in Microwave Popcorn Lawsuit

This is one of those stories that I thought was fake at first. Meet Wayne Watson, an avid lover of microwave popcorn. He loved it so much that he would eat at least two bags of artificially flavored microwave popcorn everyday for years. His love for the stuff came back to bite him.

Back in 2007 he was diagnosed with a respiratory disease called, "Microwave Popcorn Lung". The disease is caused by inhaling the popcorn's vapor, that includes  the chemical dicetyl, which has been linked to lung problems in workers in popcorn plants and is no longer added to artificial butter.

Watson and his lawyers filed the lawsuit saying that there should have been warnings on the bag warning of the dangers. Lawyers for Kroger, one of the defendants in the claim, had this to say, "Might have well have warned that there are aliens popping out of the bags because there's just as much support for that."

Well, Watson ended up winning and won a settlement of $7.2. Million Dollars for his love (obsession) of microwave popcorn. Though he says that he hardly eats popcorn after he was diagnosed with MPL in 2007.

I haven't eaten a bag of popcorn since 2007. I hardly eat popcorn any more. Occasionally we'll pop some on the stove the old fashioned way," said Watson.