JOPLIN, MO. ? Managers at a popcorn plant in Jasper were responsible for warning workers about any hazards associated with the use of butter flavoring, an industrial hygienist told jurors.

Jay D. Keough testified Tuesday in the trial of a lawsuit filed by Eric Peoples, one of 30 former plant workers suing flavoring manufacturers International Flavors and Fragrances Inc. and subsidiary Bush Boake Allen Inc.

Peoples, who worked at a Gilster-Mary Lee microwave popcorn plant in Japser from 1997 to 1999, alleges the two flavoring manufacturers should have known their products were hazardous and failed to warn employees of the dangers.

Keough, who testified for the defense, said regulations issued by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration require employers to assess hazards in their company and develop plans to control those hazards.

Gilster-Mary Lee purchased the plant in 1999 and is not named in the lawsuit.

Keough, a vice president with Blasland, Bouck and Lee, a New York consulting company, said the popcorn plant’s management also was responsible for making all information about the chemicals used in the plant available to workers, for training them, and giving them the means to protect themselves when handling the chemicals.

Peoples’ suit claims his lungs were ruined after months of mixing the butter flavoring oils at the Gilster-Mary Lee plant. Doctors have testified that Peoples needed a double lung transplant.

The trial, which is being heard in Jasper County Circuit Court in Joplin, is in its second week and could last a month, lawyers have said.