Deceased Iowa Popcorn Butter Worker Awarded $7.5 Million

A federal jury has awarded $7.5 million to an Iowa man who claimed his lungs were damaged by working with buttery flavoring used to make microwave popcorn.

The verdict in favor of 69-year-old Ronald Kuiper came a day after the Sioux City man died of lung and heart failure.

The jury deliberated six days before finding against Givaudan Flavors Corp. of Cincinnati.

Ronald Kuiper and his wife, Conley, filed suit in 2006 against four companies that made flavoring used at the American Pop Corn Co., where he worked as a butter flavor mixer in the 1990s. The Sioux City company wasn’t named in the lawsuit. The other cases were resolved earlier.

Kuiper claimed the flavoring contained a chemical causing respiratory disease.