IFF to hand out $20million in flavours case
Bush Boake Allen must pay out $20 million in damages as an American
court rules that a US popcorn factory worker sustained harm to his
lungs from mixing flavouring oils. With more cases to be heard, the
two companies could face massive hand-outs.
Eric Peoples was the first of 30 former workers at the Gilster-Mary Lee Corporation plant in Jasper, Missouri to have his case heard against the two manufacturers of the butter flavouring.
Peoples, who must undergo a lung transplant, claimed his injuries were linked to his exposure to the fumes from the oils.
Butter flavouring oils are used in biscuit and confectionery manufacturing as well as margarines and soft spreads.
According to US press reports, a jury decided he should receive $18 million and his wife $2 million from the second largest flavour company in the world, International Flavors and Fragrances and its subsidiary Bush Boake Allen.
Lawyers for the two flavour firms told jurors their product was safe when handled properly, reports the Miami Herald.
Information sent to popcorn plant officials warned the flavouring should be mixed in a well ventilated area and a respirator should be worn when heating it, the Associated Press reported.
In January this year the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), a body that falls under the US Department of Health and Human Services, recommended that employers take measures to limit employees 'occupational respiratory exposures to food flavourings and flavouring ingredients in workplaces where flavourings are made or used'.
The alert stemmed from a series of NIOSH health hazard evaluations that began in 2000 when NIOSH learned of the occurrence of bronchiolitis obliterans, a severe lung disease, in workers at a microwave popcorn packaging plant.
"Results of the health hazard evaluations to date suggest that adverse effects may result from occupational inhalation exposures to high, airborne concentrations of some flavourings or their ingredients in the form of vapours, dusts, or sprays, " NIOSH said in a statement.
In Europe the European flavour and fragrance association informed FoodNavigator.com that fragrances and flavours have to fulfill the rules of the Dangerous Products Directive and the Dangerous Substance Directive (67/548/EEC), the primary aim of the latter is to identify and control individual dangerous chemicals and raw materials.
In January IFF reported a 2 per cent drop in profits for the fourth quarter despite a 19 per cent rise in sales in North America, with 60 jobs lost in the period bringing the total to 320 for the year. All part of restructuring plans to get the company back into profitability. Sales for the year ending December 31, 2003 reached $1.9 billion, rising 5 per cent on the previous year and benefitting from stronger currencies, notably the euro, the japanese yen and sterling.
A recent report from US market research company Freedonia estimates that the market for flavours and fragrances in the US will hit $4.4 billion (€3.4bn) by 2007, increasing by a steady 3.5 per cent over the next three years, on the back of more expensive natural ingredients, complex flavours and a strong growth in low fat and low carbohydrate foods and beverages.
