Yesterday's news about microwave popcorn containing dangerous fumes lit the health and general news circuits on fire.

I'm quite sure millions of American households enjoy microwave popcorn many nights of the week, and finding out it could possibly pose a health risk is like throwing a wet blanket on a warm fireplace.

A doctor at a leading lung hospital made the call, and he said that not just popcorn factory workers were in danger, but consumers as well. The culprit? Butter flavoring on the popcorn itself, via chemicals (instead of, umm, real butter).

Is this yet another reason to buy regular, unflavored popcorn and then use your own natural flavoring instead of flavor chemicals already on the corn itself? Sure it is. Microwaving chemicals used to make food taste good is never a good thing.