Best Microwave Popcorn

Balancing taste, fat and sodium

Of course, it's possible to overstate the detrimental effects of diacetyl. It's not at all clear that this chemical poses a risk to the occasional microwave popcorn eater, and it hasn't been conclusively established that diacetyl was the direct cause of that 2007 case of bronchiolitis obliterans. Diacetyl is a naturally occurring substance found in some foods, including butter, but companies had been adding it to enhance the butter flavor without actually adding more butter.

Because all major comparison reviews pre-date the ingredient changes, most taste tests are thrown into some doubt. Until we see some updated testing, we've chosen to go with the consensus view in pre-2008 taste tests. We'll update our report when more taste tests become available.

The brand of microwave popcorn that's picked more often than any other in pre-2008 reviews is Pop Secret, made by General Mills, though these recommendations are scattered across a few varieties: Pop Secret Movie Theater Butter, Pop Secret Light Butter, Pop Secret Extra Butter, etc. Kirstie Foster, a General Mills spokesperson, confirmed that the company is no longer adding diacetyl to any of its microwave popcorn varieties since October 2007 (although the company confusingly posts ingredients lists from 2006 on its website). In the earlier reviews, we found good scores for Pop Secret Movie Theater Butter, which is a top pick of home-theater junkies at Audio/Video Revolution, who say Pop Secret Movie Theater Butter is a "very good simulation" of movie theater popcorn. Although microwave popcorn is often touted as a healthy snack, this Pop Secret variety is anything but -- each serving (there are three servings per bag) contains 180 calories, a whopping 13 grams of total fat (2.5 grams of saturated fat) and 300 mg of sodium.

Interestingly, the reviews we read didn't often top-rate this type of "extra butter" variety. Rather, most critics judged manufacturers' "light" varieties to be better overall. In the taste tests at Cook's Illustrated, Orville Redenbacher Butter (*Est. $3 for three 3.5-oz. bags) gets a pan: "Can't taste the corn for all that fake butter." And Pop Secret Butter (*Est. $3 for three 3.5-oz. bags) is deemed "greasy."

However, not all were judged as tasty as others. Smart Balance Light Butter (*Est. $3.50 for three 3.5-oz. bags) is highly rated in a couple of reviews, notably in the Health magazine's taste test, where its judged suitably buttery, which "makes you feel like you're at the movies." However, we found a dissenting vote at Men's Fitness, where Elizabeth Sanchez writes: "Smart Balance's popcorn is a virtual disaster. Every bag we microwaved was filled with numerous unpopped kernels, leaving us feeling cheated. The ones that do pop burn easily and are so mushy they seem to almost dissolve on contact with your tongue." We didn't find such harsh comments anywhere else for Smart Balance Light Butter. Each serving (three servings per bag) has 120 calories, 4.5 grams of total fat (1.5 grams of saturated fat) and 290 grams of sodium.

Even "lighter" is Orville Redenbacher Smart Pop 94% Fat Free (*Est. $3.50 for three 3.5-oz. bags), with 120 calories per serving but only 2 grams of total fat and just 0.5 grams of saturated fat. In the test at Men's Fitness, this microwave popcorn is the second-place finisher behind a fattier variety of Pop Secret. Editors say the Orville Redenbacher popcorn is a bit less salty and buttery, but has a light and natural taste.

We found mixed reviews for Newman's Own microwave popcorn. Newman's Own Butter (*Est. $3 for three 3-oz. bags) gets a nod for its "good corn flavor" from Cook's Illustrated, but we didn't find much mention of the brand elsewhere. In the test at Health.com, Newman's Own 94% Fat Free Butter (*est. $3.50 for three bags) is panned: "Eating them was like trying to chew Styrofoam packing peanuts," writes Elizabeth Sanchez.

Newman's Own Organics is a division of Newman's Own founded by Paul Newman's daughter Nell. Different varieties of Newman's Own Organics Microwave Popcorn (*Est. $3 for three 3-oz. bags) receive convincing recommendations from Health.com. Health.com ranks Newman's Own Organics Pop's Corn Light Butter and Newman's Own Organics Pop's Corn 94% Fat Free Unsalted behind only Smart Balance Light Butter, docking it a notch because it "isn't quite as buttery as our other faves." Cook's Illustrated isn't as complimentary about Newman's Own Organics Pop's Corn Butter, saying it tasted like "dried shrimp."

We'll keep an eye out for 2008 popcorn taste tests that compare products that have revised ingredients lists to see how the elimination of added diacetyl has affected taste.