EmailBest Reviewed
Microwave Popcorn
- No compromise butter-flavor popcorn Pop Secret Movie Theater Butter *Est. $3
- Best compromise Smart Balance Light Butter *Est. $3
- Top-rated 94% fat-free microwave popcorn Orville Redenbacher Smart Pop 94% Fat Free Butter *Est. $3
- Organic microwave popcorn Newmans Own Organics Pops Corn Light Butter *Est. $3
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Best compromise
- Compromise choice between lowest- and highest-fat alternatives.
- Buttery flavor
- Relatively low sodium
- Not all reviewers liked it
- Some found it greasy
Consumer Reports includes Smart Balance in its taste tests, where it's rated alongside eleven others. Smart Balance Light Butter is the top pick in a 14-popcorn taste test at Health magazine. We also found a Boston Globe taste test that's credible and more critical than most.
Smart Balance Light Butter microwave popcorn is the best compromise choice in terms of taste and fat content; it gets praise in some quarters and criticism in others. With 4.5 grams of fat per serving, it is about a third as fatty as Pop Secret Movie Theater Butter (*est. $3 for three 3.5-ounce bags). But it is more than twice as fatty as some others, including Orville Redenbacher Smart Pop 94% Fat Free (*est. $3.50 for three 3.5-ounce bags). Some reviewers say that Smart Balance has a nice buttery flavor, and others note it as good low-sodium choice as well. Some taste-test comments were less complimentary, though, calling it oily.
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Our Sources
Editors give a brief summation of its ratings of eleven microwave popcorn brands. You'll need a subscription to see the product-by-product ratings, but and the free introduction section says Smart Balance Light Butter is a good choice if sodium is a concern.
Review: Popcorn/Which Kernels Are King?, Editors of Consumer Reports, Sept. 2007
2. Health MagazineDetails/Subscribe
Editors at Health magazine rate 14 microwave popcorn varieties with an eye towards healthy eating -- choosing Smart Balance Light Butter as the winner with Newman's Own Organics Pop's Corn Light Butter next.
Review: The Best Microwave Popcorn, Susan Hall, Feb. 2007
The Boston Globe used an unspecified number of testers to taste six microwave popcorns. The story says Pop Secret Light Butter is the winner, and Smart Balance Light Butter gets mostly negative comments; some testers found it oily.
Review: Search for Kernels of Truth Leads to Overall Sense of Dissatisfaction, Debra Samuels and staff of Boston Globe, Dec. 20, 2006
4. Men's Health
Men's Health says it "searched every aisle" for its picks in 125 food categories, but there's no indication how many contenders there were in each category or who the losers were. We're also not told whether the products were tasted rather than just rated on nutrition factors. For what it's worth, Smart Balance Light Butter wins the popcorn category: "Free of trans fats but still with plenty of buttery flavor. "
Review: The 125 Healthiest Supermarket Foods in America, Editors of Men's Health, no date
