I think it's either because I don't add the flavored salt or because I never get any hot enough for it to be an issue.

It makes sense that it would happen with salt and vinegar though. Any combo of hot, acid-y, and salty.

We were in Sam's Club one day, and happened to notice they had gallon jugs of popcorn "butter" like what they use at the theaters. Out of curiosity, I checked out the nutrition label. I don't remember specifics, but along the lines of 88% of your daily fat and 120% of your daily sodium, per TABLESPOON. Holy frijoles!

Besides which, unless you are going to the movie theatre every single day and eating this on top of your regular day's calories, I don't see the big deal.

And I know when I go to the movies, i'll often skip out on supper so I CAN have the popcorn. Otherwise I don't have room for it.

I'm guessing that all the extra calories and fat come from the amount of butter people typically pump onto the popcorn after they get it. But given that the purchases were done by those doing the study, I can't see how this was done accurately. They'd have to go with the state it was sold to them.

Thing is, they are calculating the soft drink into the calorie count, so it's not all the popcorn / butter making up the total.

A quarter pounder has about 500 calories I think, give or take. Assuming a pat of butter is 100 calories, they are saying that the popcorn and coke combo have about 2700 calories I think.

This. THIS !!!! Why do we not have this in Canada ? Well, near me anyway.

I'm surprised that the tight-arses out there haven't complained about how the kiddies might be exposed to it or something.

Incidentally, the latest set of measuring spoons I bought have a tiny spoon that says "just a pinch." Really?

*headdesk* Maybe that's what the advertisements told you, but smoking has NEVER been a dessert.

As soon as it became a business, it was intended to be an "anytime" thing. No business ever openly says to enjoy their product sparingly with the exception of federally-mandated warning labels.

I'll freely admit that the popcorn isn't "good" for you. When I worked there, I would sometimes double up on the salt. Noone really tracked the rate of salt use, but customers acted like dope fiends about refills and buying more when it was salty. That said, there are far worse things, some of which don't even taste as good.

They switched from coconut to corn oil probably in spring of 1996. If they've since switched back, then good for them. The popcorn tasted better with coconut and stayed crisp longer, too. Melting the waxy oil down was a pain, but not really much worse than anything else.

@LeChiffre: ROTFLMAO

It's about moderation and balance.

That still doesn't make the story BS. It'd be BS if it wasn't true.

I think the point is the lack of labeling. If it's labeled with health information, then yeah, so what? But, it's not. MYSTERY foooood!

When I worked in the movie theaters in the late 80's we used canola oil for the popping.

The 'butter' (or 'satan's own piss' as we used to call it) was what ever was left of butter after you removed everything that would make it go bad if it sat out at room temperature for 90 days.

It had the consistency of paste when cool, and came in 5 gallon plastic containers. It was sometimes hard to tell where the substance stopped and the plastic started.

Anyone who can go through an entire tub at a movie probably just finished 3 quarter pounders with 12 pats of butter prior to the show. Most of the popcorn tubs left after the show were better than 75% full.

@zentex:

All true, but concessions is the only thing theater owners make profit from. Box office proceeds go to the film distributors.

Wait, when did theaters start popping on premises again? They always try to sneak it out of plastic bags from a factory when they think no one is looking.

Years ago when this story had it's first go-around, many local theatres here in NJ started popping in canola oil. The owner of one, not liking the taste, went back to coconut oil, and posted on the menu board "Proudly Popped In Coconut Oil". I was told his popcorn sales when up by almost 30%.

It's not the popcorn that is really, really bad for you, it's all the SHIT you put on it and eat WITH it.

12 pats of butter, Salt, Medium soda.

Just be smart people. Or rather than 'smart' be conscious of your food decisions.
- Bring a water bottle (or if the movie-nazis protest, buy one of theirs) and refill it.
- Bring a piece of fruit. Or again if attacked by the movie-gestapo, buy popcorn but insist it be plain.

Da na! Now you're assured a long bland tasteless existance.

No coconut or hydrogenated oil or artificial additives - only popcorn, clarified butter, and canola oil.

It tastes like the real thing, but better. (In fact, I'm inhaling a large bag of it right now.)

So what you're saying is, I can finally stop feeling guilty for wolfing down three quarter pounders while watching a movie in a theater?? :D

Because, you know.... at least it doesn't have those 12 pats of butter, am I right?

In general at home try oils with a similar smoke point as peanut and you will pretty good flavors.

Theater Hopping - now THAT'S stealing. But that's another topic for another time. . . .

Meh, whatever.

Getting popcorn from the farmer's market is better anyway :)

No one ever stops to consider that maybe the reason the person is ordering the Diet Coke is not be "healthy", but because they don't want the sugar.

I drink diet almost exclusively, and not because I'm dieting, but because I consider regular soda to be empty calories. Those 3 cheeseburgers and 12 pats of butter that we're calling movie theatre popcorn? Totally not empty - it's worth every last artery hardening calorie.

Like others have said - I go to the movies maybe 3 times a year, and you can have my medium-large butter-flavoring topped popcorn when I'm dead of a heart attack. Which won't happen because I have excellent genes and an HDL # that may be a world's record.

@subtlefrog: I actually did think about this. Since you don't explode, you burn, as long as people were fast with their bowls, they could catch all the popped kernals before you were reduced to ash. No one likes ashy popcorn.

Of course, if you were to carry a lot of butter and salt as well, you could possibly turn yourself into buttery salted ash - in that case, it would be cannibalism. But we approach a grey area if you carry butter and bacon salt.

Dude. No one is "obligated" to buy any food at the theater. Am I stealing if I eat before I go and then don't get anything? No.

I usually eat all the candy too. :)

What I think is funny is the people that get the giant buttered popcorn... with the Diet Coke. And come back for free refills on the popcorn.

Let's put it another way - would you go to a restaurant and, if asked if you wanted to buy a salad with your meal say "no, thanks - I brought my own salad". No, of course not. Why is a theater any different? Only because you can "sneak" food in without anyone knowing.

@captadam: Puffed corn that is cooked in saturated oils, topped with "butter" flavored oil... You're eating tons of fat...

Medium????? I wolf down the large!!! I don't do it very often, and I often skip dinner to do it, but I need me the popcorn at the theater... :)

Ok, I will say what no one else here seems to be pointing out - the fact is, movie theater popcorn tastes like a bucket of crumpled week-old newspaper, glazed in salty vaseline. Why would anyone eat that nasty stuff?

Now real popcorn, air-popped and drenched in far more than 12 pats of butter - that is something worth clogging your arteries for!

@h3llc4t, breaker of office dress codes: You're ok, I don't like chili dogs. I like regular hotdogs swimming in meltey cheese like velveta, or if I have to have a regular hotdog without cheese I likek them with mayo. But I can eat a sausage hotdog any day of the week without anything else on it.

Today for lunch I'm having a cressant with egg, cheese, and sausage that I got from a local donut shop this morning.

Clearly I love sausage and should weigh 300 pounds. LOL

Also, isn't the point of hydrogenation to make fats less unsaturated?

Granted the process is imperfect- if it wasn't we wouldn't have trans fats to worry about- but that is the idea.

Besides that, I've NEVER seen the kids at the theaters clean the poppers worth a damn be it coconut or corn oil. Even when the theater has dedicated janitors that clean concessions, it's still 1/2-assed.

The only reason theaters pass health inspections is because they spend 3 days cleaning everything before the inspector gets there...I wont even discuss the bribery I've witnessed.

If you make a little effort it comes clean, but you actually have to *try* when you clean concessions.

i'm thinking a "pat" is like a slice, like they serve at a cafeteria that you'd eat at with your grandmother.

@h3llc4t, breaker of office dress codes: there is one in UT that we went to while visiting family, where there is a food court that you can go to. A full food court. The trays even have little cup holders that you put into the armrest-cupholder to keep the food in your lap.

Consider the biggest soda at the theater costs the company ~32¢, the biggest bag of corn is about 12¢ and the tub is 14¢.

and that factors in EVERYTHING, rent, wage, power, product, etc etc.

granted, this was calculations from 3 years ago...so I doubt it's increased all that much since then. This also doesn't take into count the free product the theaters get from coke/pepsi...they make deals like every 10th box of syrup is free and the sort.

Neither peanut oil nor sunflower oil have the same delicious taste as coconut oil. Neither do canola or safflower. Although I do admit that sesame oil is quite good.

@Kimaroo - Fortified with Kittydus Purrularis: NOT THE STAPLES! Just kidding. It works for me.

I have an old soul. My souls enjoys Werther's, and eats dinner at 4:30.

@LeChiffre: "My Great-Aunt Jennifer ate an entire box of candy every day of her life. She lived to be 102 and when she had been dead three days she looked better than you do now."

-- Sheridan Whiteside to his nurse, after she told him he couldn't eat candy because it was bad for him, in Kaufman & Hart's The Man Who Came To Dinner

@Omir The Storyteller: When I was in my teens I could eat a whole regular bag of popcorn. It would take a while, but I could do it. Then during college, I found that I no longer could finish an entire bag, so I switched to buying the mini bags. And now I can't even finish a mini bag. I blame it on the fact that as I got older, I became increasingly aware of what I was eating.

So where do all the calories and fat come from if they're saying that this is before the butter is added?

Distrust anything the CSPI says. It's their fault that the healthy coconut oil was replaced. Skip the gross topping. Besides that, CSPI is just all about guilt.

I don't know what it is about popcorn but I can't eat it like I used to. The last couple of times I tried to eat about a small bag's worth I started getting chest pains. I don't think it was a sign of early heart disease or anything, but whatever it was, I don't want to do it again for a food that I probably shouldn't be eating anyway (between the oil, the salt and the carbohydrates).

...but doing this makes the suits mad because it "eats into the profits".

@floraposte: You people and your crazy articles. I swear.. we should all live like the bubble boy, provided the plastic the bubble is made from doesn't have any BPA!

Someone should have had that guy watch Alton Brown's episode on popcorn.. He could have saved lots of money (and health problems) making his own microwave popcorn at home. [www.foodnetwork.com]

Speak for yourself!

I wouldn't buy candy from a theater since they stopped carrying Pop'ables.

@eccsame: Is it stealing if i bring in a flask of whiskey and pour some into my coke while i enjoy the movie?

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): Just think about it. If you were to spontaneously combust, just carry a packet of kernals with you at all times, and then everyone around you would get popcorn when you go kapoof!

@pecan 3.14159265: "Mi perro para su perro" should do the trick.

God I hate connecticut.

It's by far cheaper to rent the movie when it comes out. Go over to our friends house that has a 52 inch HD and order in. We split the cost of 2 large BOGO pizzas at about 5$ per couple (six people), Cost or renting the DVD 5$ We do this two times a month with movies that we all deem, 'A waste of money to go see in the theater, but we will rent it when it comes out on DVD.' Total cost for this night 20$, a savings of over 80$. It is not like we have a whole lot of extra money laying around that we can go see movies like we used to. We are all working but we've had to cut back on spending due to job cuts and such. First thing to go, Movie nights.

Seriously?

@eccsame: I can totally see how it's not allowed. I don't see how it's stealing.

It doesn't even say what constitutes a "medium" or if that popcorn is soaked in the melted Tupperware they call butter flavoring. And what one person eats an entire tub of that crap on their own?

But I like 'butter-flavored topping' more than real butter on my popcorn.

@Kimaroo - Fortified with Kittydus Purrularis: I like how you think. Now I just have to learn to say this in Spanish.

@pecan 3.14159265: Try a drawing of a dog.. "I'll trade you my dog for yours"

It could work.

It's like saying don't drink caffeinated coffee. Decaf? Why bother?

I do agree the "buttery topping" is gross though. The popcorn should be flavored enough by what it picks up from the popping oil and any extra is like an oil slick on the pillowy goodness.

Saturated fats have all the hands full, so they can't go rancid as quickly.

@Kuchen: "I do not like movie theater popcorn. It makes my mouth burn." WTF?

@pecan 3.14159265: Actually I do smoke about one pack of year. I've never gotten addicted to them and I enjoy a smoke once in a while. A doctor told me, big deal if I smoke a couple a month, it's not going to hurt me any more than the many thing we do to ourselves everyday. The whole point behind not smoking is the fact that people are smoking 3 packs a day. Smoking was never intended to be a 3 pack a day habit. Back in the smoking was only for "after dinner" and other special occasions. But I also swim 30 laps once a week, do aerobics at least once a week and do weights. This country is way too obsessed with every little news story and study about something like "popcorn being bad". It's about moderation and balance.

@Kimaroo - Fortified with Kittydus Purrularis: Mmm hot dogs. Crap. Now I want a hot dog too. And I have no cash and the street carts don't take IOUs or drawings of spiders.

@savdavid: Coconut oil is good for you when in liquid form.

You wouldn't wolf down three quarter pounders and 12 pats of butter in one sitting at a movie, so it's probably a good idea to think twice about inhaling that medium popcorn.

That sounds like a challenge. I raise you three strips of bacon and a fried egg.

That's not to say the stuff is healthy after all. I never get movie popcorn ... never. And I don't even nibble on it if I'm with someone who buys it and I'm offered some.

All I'm saying is that this is NOT "news." Not by any stretch of the imagination.

That said, there are reasons why people like high-fat foods like this (i.e. human beings are hard-wired to like it in preference to other stuff) and there are reasons the theaters continue to use coconut oil (i.e. it's cheap). Perhaps CSPI would be better off advocating changes that actually help rather than just continuing to rail about theaters selling this stuff and people buying it. It's great for the "fat police" to tell people they should eat rocks and twigs instead, and to tell the theaters to sell them rocks and twigs ... but the fact is that people don't like rocks and twigs, they will not willingly eat rocks and twigs, and that means theaters will never make money selling rocks and twigs.

In other words, it's time for CSPI and similar outfits to stop putting the cart before the horse, and offer useful solutions, rather than just doing what they've always done, which is to whine and complain and issue press-releases full of sanctimonious outrage just because people eat what they want to eat and theaters dare sell it to them.

And that's the way it should be.

@LeChiffre: Just cause you only smoke one pack of cigarettes once a year, doesn't mean the pack of cigarettes isn't bad for you.

But if I don't get the popcorn, what will I get to go with my jumbo Coke Icee?

I mean, I will be all unbalanced with a free hand and that's unnatural! Not to mention the uncomfortable stares from the other patrons. (Shhh! Honey, don't look at the poor man who can only afford one concession! Yeah -- I live in that tough of a town.)

Still, the wording in the article didn't help all that much. I can't BELIEVE people pop in coconut oil. That HAS to be more expensive than many non-saturated oils.

I don't eat movie popcorn.. I breathe it in.. it smells so good.. and that is enough for me.

Now, if they come out with a story about the sausagey goodness that is the AMC Hotdog.. I might have something to worry about.

Dammit.. now I want a sausage hotdog.

BS. Another story to get you folks screaming the sky is falling. I've been eating theater popcorn over 30+ years and I bet I am in better health than 50% of you folks in this forum room. Do you eat theatre popcorn everyday? Once a week? Once a month? Twice a year? That is how you decide to balance what you eat, exercise, and maintaining a healthy life-style.

So what. Let's remind ourselves that nothing is too bad in moderation.

I also wouldn't steal a handbag.

Illegal downloading is illegal.

I couldn't help myself, really.

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): We've only been to the movie theater five or six times this year, and most of the time we don't get popcorn. But AMC gives us coupons for free popcorn once in a while and we just go nuts when we get those. It's because of the price. Both of us can share a small and be perfectly happy. But the cost of that small popcorn is so ridiculous we wait for the coupons.

The only change in a decade and a half has been PRICE!