Industry should support broader research effort to determine whether diacetyl threatens workers

Usually when restaurateurs address the hot-button issue of food safety, they worry most about exposing customers to weak links in the nation’s food chain. Now, however, that focus has shifted to kitchen workers.

As recently reported in Nation’s Restaurant News, researchers, industry observers and operators have begun to question whether cooks who are exposed regularly to an artificial butter flavoring used in some cooking oils and sprays might be putting themselves in charm’s way.