American Pop Corn Company Sioux City Iowa

After NIOSH identified a risk for lung disease in workers exposed to airborne butter flavoring chemicals at a microwave popcorn plant in Missouri, the Iowa Department of Public Health asked NIOSH to see if workers at American Pop Corn Company were also at similar risk.

Popcorn was not known to the world until the discovery of the Americas. Nowhere in history can one suggest that corn and popped corn were ever planted by or known to any people of the globe before America was discovered. Popcorn enjoys the privilege of being the subject of more books and literature than any other single snack, anywhere. Almost all these books have been authored and published in the USA. The books range over recipes, stories, novels, as well as business, sociological, psychological, and technical issues. There is no place or country in the world that has developed and made so much and many memorabilia of popcorn as America and the Americans. Memorabilia has been associated with so many events, functions, and personalities. A short list includes movies, festivals, birthrates, celebrations, parks, restaurants, buildings, children games, toys, books and more. Popcorn is one of the healthiest snacks available and is, by far, the most popular snack in the USA. It is appropriate in almost all social settings and available during most sports events. The United States is credited for the vast majority of agronomic research conducted to develop new breeds, traits, and types of popcorn. The same can be said about popcorn processing, development and packaging. The United States of America is credited for being the country that has been the biggest grower, developer, processor, promoter, consumer, and exporter of popcorn. Popcorn is the American Snack.

The business of food and drink is for better and worse the business of our nation and our planet, and to most consumers how it works remains largely a mystery. This encyclopedia takes readers as consumers behind the scenes of the food and drink industries. The contributors come from a wide range of fields, and the scope of this encyclopedia is broad, covering from food companies and brands to the environment, health, science and technology, culture, finance, and more. The more than 150 essay entries also cover those issues that have been and continue to be of perennial importance. Historical context is emphasized and the focus is mainly on business in the United States. Most entries include Further Reading. The frontmatter includes an Alphabetical List of Entries and a Topical List of Entries to allow the reader to quickly find subjects of interest. Numerous cross-references in the entries and blind entries provide other search strategies. The person and subject index is another in-depth search tool. Sample entries: Advertising, Agribusiness, Altria, Animal Rights, Betty Crocker, Celebrity Chefs, Chain Restaurants, Commodities Exchange, Cooking Technology, Culinary Tourism, Eco-terrorism, Environmental Protection Agency, Ethnic Food Business, European Union, Flavors and Fragrances, Food Safety, Food Service Industry, Genetic Engineering, Internet, Labor and Labor Unions, Marketing to Children, McDonald's, Meat Packing, North American Free Trade Agreement, Nutrition Labeling, Organic Foods, Poultry Industry, Slow Food, SPAM, Television, Trader Joe's, Tupperware, TV Dinners, Whole Foods, Williams-Sonoma, Wine Business

The history, legends, and cookery of America's favorite snack food Whether in movie theaters or sports arenas, at fairs or theme parks, around campfires or family hearths, Americans consume more popcorn by volume than any other snack. To the world, popcorn seems as American as baseball and apple pie. Within American food lore, popcorn holds a special place, for it was purportedly shared by Native Americans at the first Thanksgiving. In Popped Culture, Andrew F. Smith tests such legends against archaeological, agricultural, culinary, and social findings. While debunking many myths, he discovers a flavorful story of the curious kernel's introduction and ever-increasing consumption in North America. Unlike other culinary fads of the nineteenth century, popcorn has never lost favor with the American public. Smith gauges the reasons for its unflagging popularity: the invention of "wire over the fire" poppers, commercial promotion by shrewd producers, the fascination of children with the kernel's magical "pop," and affordability. To explain popcorn's twentieth-century success, he examines its fortuitous association with new technology—radio, movies, television, microwaves—and recounts the brand-name triumphs of American manufacturers and packagers. His familiarity with the history of the snack allows him to form expectations about popcorn's future in the United States and abroad. Smith concludes his account with more than 160 surprising historical recipes for popcorn cookery, including the intriguing use of the snack in custard, hash, ice cream, omelets, and soup.