The Pop Chart

By Jayne Hurley & Bonnie Liebman opcorn’s reputation has had a rough ride in recent years. How Many Cups? Its image as a healthy, low-calorie, high-fiber snack shat- bers, we won’t tell…but tered in 1994, when we revealed that most movie theaters your bathroom scale may. Our Best Bites have no P more than one gram of pop their corn in heavily saturated coconut oil. STEP 1. Look for “94% saturated fat, 200 mil- Suddenly, the healthy snack packed 400 calories and a day’s fat-free” or “light.” You ligrams of sodium, and worth of saturated fat. And that was only if you got a small with can quickly narrow down four grams (one teaspoon) no butter (see “Movie Madness,” p. 14). A large with butter your search for a good of sugar per serving. microwave popcorn by (Honorable Mentions meant 1,600 calories and nearly four days’ worth of sat fat. Even starting out with brands have the same sat fat and fettuccine Alfredo comes with just a two-day supply. that are labeled “light” sugar limits, but can have Fortunately, the popcorn you buy in the supermarket hasn’t (which means they have up to 300 mg of sodium.) half as much fat or a third been anywhere near a coconut. Most companies pop in soybean The trick is that our serv- fewer calories than their ings don’t always match oil (even if the label says “made with real butter”). And freshly “regular” versions), “94% what you’ll see listed on microwaved popcorn has fewer calories because it has more air fat-free,” or “low-fat.” the packages’ Nutrition and less oil than the stuff you pay too much for at the movies. That’s the only way to help Facts labels. keep a five-cup serving But finding a healthy supermarket popcorn is no slam-dunk. The servings on micro- from pushing the sat fat wave popcorn boxes are Many companies use partially hydrogenated oils that supply above one gram. anywhere from three to too much (hidden) trans fat; others use too much salt. And, If a one-gram limit seems eight cups. We used a when you’re looking at a “light” or “94% fat free” microwave harsh, remember that most five-cup serving because companies use partially that’s about what Orville popcorn package, it’s next to impossible to figure out how much hydrogenated oil. So that Redenbacher’s puts in its sat fat you’re eating. That’s because most labels list (often in a one gram may underesti- single serve “mini bags.” tiny footnote) sodium, sat fat, etc., for one cup popped. But the mate the artery-clogging Sounds like a lot? It’s (saturated-plus-trans fat) amount of sat fat in a single cup of popcorn is often less than half roughly a “kid”-size bag at total. But if the popcorn a movie theater. a gram, which manufacturers can round down and list as “0” has only one gram of satu- For the already-popped grams on the label. So when you multiply those “0” grams of sat rated fat, odds are it does- corn you buy in bags, we fat by four, five, or more (depending on how many cups you n’t have more than a gram stuck with a three-cup of trans. That’s manage- eat), you—but not your arteries—still get zero. serving, which is close to able. what most labels say. It That’s where our popcorn guide comes in handy. In contrast, five cups of a makes sense to use a full-fat popcorn have three smaller serving for bagged to five grams of sat fat, and popcorn because it’s more the partially hydrogenated compact than the hot oil could add a few grams popcorn you pour out of a of trans. Newman’s Own freshly microwaved bag. Organics Butter Pop’s Corn We used an even has six grams of sat fat, smaller serving (one cup) thanks to its palm oil. for pre-popped caramel, That’s not exactly movie- kettle, and candy-coated theater-popcorn-bad, but popcorn. All that sugar why waste almost a third and, in some cases, fat of a day’s damaging fat on and nuts should slow a food that tastes great down the average snacker. with far less? If you eat more than our Partially hydrogenated 1 Nick Waring. serving sizes and don’t Count your cups. This label says that each bag makes 12 /2 cups, but we end- oil is less of a problem in multiply the sodium, ed up with only 10 from each of the three bags we popped. Other brands also Photos: calories, and other num- vary. The only way to know what you’re getting: Count how many cups you ›››› eat and multiply by the numbers for “1 cup popped” that are on the label. NUTRITION ACTION HEALTHLETTER ■ MARCH 2003 13 BRAND-NAME RATING already-popped brands. But cheese is. Three cups of Cheez- It White Cheddar, for example, have four grams of sat fat (and 270 calories). What to do? Look for “Lite” on the bag. That should keep the sat fat to one gram or less. But don’t look for “Air Popped.” Brands like Cape Cod make that appealing claim, but most have no less fat than any other full-fat popcorn. Apparently, the corn is air popped before being coated with oil and cheese. STEP 2. Look for less sodium. Once you’ve got a lower- fat brand, check the sodium. Luckily, only a few lower-fat popcorns have too much for a Best Bite or Honorable Mention. That’s because popcorn tastes just fine unsalted or lightly salted. More salt than butter. As with other “made with” claims, “made with A few examples: For a rich movie-theater-like buttery real butter” means “made with very little butter.” So you don’t have to taste, give Jolly Time Butter-Licious Light or Orville Reden- give them the cold shoulder. Just keep in mind that some butter-boasting bacher’s Light Movie Theater Butter a try. If you like your brands (like Newman’s Own Butter Boom, Jolly Time Blast O Butter, and seasoning a bit more subtle, pick up some Jolly Time Act II Butter Lover’s) are heavy on the salt. Healthy Pop, Orville Redenbacher’s Smart Pop, or Pop-Secret Movie Madness 94% Fat Free or Light. And if you like the taste of plain, unadorned air-popped corn, try Bearitos or Healthy Why is movie theater popcorn so much worse than the Choice...or save some money and get yourself a cheap air supermarket variety? Because it’s usually popped in popper. highly saturated coconut oil, and because the servings So many great-tasting popcorns make you wonder why are on steroids. The seven cups in a buttered small, for some companies still feel like they have to pour on the salt. 1 example, have 600 calories and 1 /2 days’ worth of satu- Among the microwaves, Jolly Time Blast O Butter, Cheez-It rated fat. A large (20 cups) with butter has 1,600 calo- White Cheddar, Tabasco, and Act II Butter Lover’s all hit at ries and nearly four days’ sat fat. least 400 mg of sodium, while Newman’s Own Butter Boom tips the scales at 900 mg. Clearly, the “blast” and “boom” are Some theaters pop in partially hydrogenated veg- more salt than butter. etable oil, which is better for your heart, and a few use On the already-popped shelf head for Bachman Lite, non-hydrogenated oil, which is best (though none are Bearitos Lite, Boston’s Lite, and Good Health Half Naked. good for your waistline). You’ll get less than 200 mg of sodium in a (three-cup) serving. (Warning: You’ll have a hard time stopping after just three X AMC, Edwards, Hoyts, Regal, United Artists (coconut oil) cups of Bearitos Lite or Boston’s Lite.) That’s a big savings over the 500+ mg you could get from a brand like Pizza Hut R Carmike, CineMark, Cineplex Odeon, Loews, Cheese, Tabasco, or Smartfood White Cheddar. Multiplex, Muvico, Showcase Don’t those companies know that one out of every four (partially hydrogenated canola oil) adults has high blood pressure? Haven’t they heard that every major health authority has urged Americans to cut back PG Century, GKC (non-hydrogenated canola or sunflower oil) on salt? Hello-o-o? STEP 3. Skip the popcorn candy. You can dodge the sat G Your Theater (assuming you can sneak some in) (air-popped) fat and sodium in ordinary popcorn by switching to a sweetened popcorn like Crunch ‘n Munch Kettle Corn or EatSmart Movie Theater Kettle Pops. But don’t pat yourself on the back. They (and Popcorn most pre-popped kettle corns) have 14 grams (about four tea- (popped in coconut oil) spoons) of empty-calorie sugar in every cup. (Microwave ket- Calories Total(grams) Fat Saturated(grams) Fat Kid’s (5 cups) 300 20 14 tle corns are sweetened with the synthetic-but-safe sugar sub- stitute sucralose. That cuts the calories by two-thirds.) with Butter 470 37 22 The sugar in kettle corns may give them more calories (per Small (7 cups) 400 27 19 cup) than regular popcorn, but the calories in candy-coated with Butter 630 50 29 popcorns are off the charts. Once there were just Cracker Medium (11 cups) 650 43 31 Jacks (caramel-coated popcorn and peanuts).

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