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November 30, 2009
Nightmare at the Movies
How many of you splurge on popcorn when you go to the movies? Ever wonder what is actually in that buttery, salty snack? Snack may not be the right word...
CSPI said it bought multiple servings of popcorn at movie chains Regal Entertainment Group, AMC Movie Theatres and Cinemark and had them analyzed in an independent laboratory.
It reported a Regal medium popcorn (20 cups) contains 1,200 calories, 60 grams of saturated fat, and 980 milligrams of sodium. That's without the buttery topping that can be drizzled
-- or poured -- on the popcorn, which adds 200 more calories and 3 grams of saturated fat per 1.5 tablespoons.
An AMC medium popcorn did better because of its smaller size -- nine cups -- at 590 calories and 33 grams of saturated fat, and a 14-cup Cinemark medium popcorn was 760 calories and 3 grams of saturated fat (in both cases, before adding buttery topping).
One problem is that Regal and AMC pop their popcorn in coconut oil, which is about 90 percent saturated fat. Cinemark pops its corn in canola oil, which explains its lower saturated-fat levels.
In two positive steps, trans fatty acids were not found in the samples and theaters have stopped using hydrogenated oils in the butter-flavored toppings.
The study is in the December issue of CSPI's Nutrition Action Healthletter.
Posted by Lisa at November 30, 2009 9:48 AM
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