If you or someone you know is still eating microwave popcorn, listen up! I can’t tell you how many countless times I used to eat microwave popcorn when I worked in an office. My co-workers would buy one of those packs from the vending machine in the break room and pop that sucker right into the microwave and the whole floor would smell DELICIOUS! I just couldn’t help myself. It was the one thing in the vending machine that always had to be refilled week after week – way before the stale peanuts.
I’m so glad I stopped that habit, when I finally gave up my use of microwaves, because let me tell you, this stuff is horrible for your health and here’s why…
The Bag
The bag almost all microwave popcorn varieties come in is lined with perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). This chemical is the same toxic stuff found in teflon pots and pans. It can stay in the environment and in the human body for long periods of time. This chemical when heated has been linked to infertility, cancer and other diseases in lab animals. No long term studies have been conducted on humans, but the EPA lists this substance as a carcinogen.
The Contents
Here’s a snapshot of several popular popcorn brands and the ingredients they contain.
Even though there are no sources of genetically modified popcorn kernels being produced (that’s saved for other varieties of corn), there are several other GMO ingredients in the form of oil or emulsifiers to be found in these popcorn flavors. GMOs have never been tested long term on human beings and are linked to a slew of health issues that are rising in this country. All of these brands do not use organic corn either, so you can be sure they contain harmful pesticides.
Brands like PopSecret and Jolly Time still use trans fat, which is considered one of the most deadly fats available because it is associated with 20,000 heart attacks a year and over 7,000 deaths according to the CDC.
Proply Gallate that is found in PopSecret is one of those ingredients that’s being phased out in the rest of the world, but still being used here for a preservative in food, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. It’s linked to all sorts of health issues like skin rashes, stomach issues and breathing problems.
TBHQ that is found in Smart Balance, stands for “Tertiary Butylhydroquinone.” It’s a dead giveaway that you shouldn’t be eating this, if food companies have to use an acronym for a long chemical name on the ingredient label.
TBHQ is a chemical made from butane (a very toxic gas) and can only be used at a rate of 0.02 percent of the total oil in a product. Why is there a limit to this? Maybe because eating only 1 gram of this toxic preservative has been shown to cause all sorts of issues, from ADHD in children, to asthma, allergies and dermatitis to dizziness and even has caused stomach cancer in laboratory animals.
Limiting TBHQ to a certain percentage, is the same logic the FDA made when allowing a product to still contain 0.5 grams of transfat and be labeled “transfat free.” If you are consuming processed foods, eating at fast food restaurants or chains that use processed foods you are consuming an overload of preservatives and other chemicals. The accumulation of eating all these different preservatives and man-made chemicals at once has not been studied by the food companies or the FDA for safety.
The Hidden Ingredients
Even though natural flavors and artificial flavors are listed on the ingredient label of microwave popcorn, we have no way of knowing what’s actually in these ingredients. Food manufacturers won’t tell you and they hide things in there like MSG, beaver’s anal glands and diacetyl butter flavoring. What’s so wrong with a little bit of artificial butter flavoring? Well a lot. This stuff is seriously toxic, which forced Conagra Foods to remove it from their Act branded Microwave popcorn recently because it causes lung issues in workers. This ingredient is also linked to brain issues which cause Alzheimer’s Disease too. Dr. Mercola reports:
“Researchers conducting test-tube studies revealed that diacetyl has several concerning properties for brain health. Not only can it pass through the blood-brain barrier, which is intended to help keep toxins out of your brain, but it can also cause brain proteins to misfold into the Alzheimer’s-linked form known as beta amyloid. It also inhibits mechanisms that help to naturally clear the dangerous beta amyloid from your brain.1
It’s not known at this time whether eating diacetyl-containing foods (it’s used not only in microwave popcorn but also in other snack foods, baked goods, pet foods, some fast foods and other food products) increases your risk of Alzheimer’s, but the finding that it may contribute to brain plaques linked to Alzheimer’s at very low concentrations is concerning, to say the least.“
Orville Redenbacher’s label explicitly says they do not use this flavoring anymore, but there are popcorn varieties that still do, so watch out, if you see the words “artificial flavor” on the label of any processed food, back up far away!
Make Your Own (It Takes 5 mins!)
Making your own popcorn from scratch is so EASY and you can avoid all of these health pitfalls. If you need to take some to the office or where ever you are going (like sneaking it into the movie theatre), I recommend making it in advance and throwing it in a reusable bag.
This recipe takes 5 mins. The extra 2 minutes (over microwave popcorn) is time definitely worth committing to.
I call this recipe “Superfood Popcorn” because it contains three amazing ingredients:
- Coconut oil that is great for your metabolism
- Hemp seeds that are full of omega 3 fatty acids
- Red palm oil that contains the highest amounts of vitamins A and E of any plant-based oil
I have to say, the red palm oil took this popcorn from about an 9 to an 11 on a scale from 1 to 10. It looks and tastes like yummy comforting butter (and the color matches that movie theatre popcorn without all the added chemical ingredients). Also, the added texture of the hemp seeds combined with sea salt is so good and crunchy.
I made a bowl of this last week and it was heavenly! It’s seriously amazing – I can’t wait to hear your reports.
Please note red palm oil is different from palm kernel oil (that is grown in SouthEast Asia and killing orangutans). Red palm oil comes from Ecuador and harvested sustainably. Dr. Oz does a great job of explaining the difference between red palm fruit oil and palm kernel oil here if you’d like to learn more.
- ¼ cup dry popcorn kernels
- 1 and ½ teaspoon coconut oil
- 2 tsp red palm oil
- 1 tbsp hempseed ground
- ¼ tsp celtic sea salt
- In a pot, stir together coconut oil and popcorn kernels and heat pot on stove to high
- Cover pot with lid and let popcorn pop until you hear less popping per second
- Once popcorn is done popping, remove from pot into a bowl
- Using a blender or food processor, blend hempseed and salt until fine
- Top popcorn with melted red palm oil and hempseed salt mixture
And by the way, it’s pretty amazing the CEO of Nutiva John Roulac, would say outright in a news interview that the end goal for his company is to see “Monsanto go bankrupt” – I love voting with my dollars to support him and his company.
If you know someone who is still consuming microwave popcorn, please do your part and share this post with them – especially if they are your co-workers 🙂 Together we are changing the way our families and friends eat and I love that!
Hooray to healthy popcorn!
Food babe
P.S. Check out this hilarious interview I did on CNN last weekend about trans fats, popcorn and Funyuns. Being on the Don Lemon Show with Alexa Towersey was so fun! Don was a riot. When you watch it, you’ll see what I mean.
Vani,
Thank you for this post:) Definitely cleared up questions we had about organic vs conventional kernels:) Love all you do! Thank you:)
Wow, no wonder I felt so “out of sorts” at my last job, eating all that microwaved popcorn. I’ll be trying your recipe once I get my outdoor fire/heating/whatever thingy set up 🙂
I love Nutiva products too. I add a little turmeric to the popcorn and it adds a nice color and flavor to it. If you don’t have a lot of health food stores nearby you can buy a lot of organic products including Nutiva on Vitacost,. Their prices are better than health food stores and amazon and free shipping options too. Plus you get a $10 off 30 coupon making it even better.
https://www.vitacostrewards.com/AcCUvq2
What about making regular popcorn in the microwave?
I use coconut oil and a little salt and put it in a glass dish.
I add the popcorn, put the lid on and let it go for 3-4 minutes.
After it’s done I add cinnamon.
I’d like your feedback.
No no no! Don’t use a microwave for ANYTHING. Just throw the darn thing away. It’s a terrible invention! Vani had a link in the above article to explain why – https://foodbabe.com/2012/07/30/why-its-time-to-throw-out-your-microwave/.
I make popcorn with a hot air popper – easy-peasy – and only buy the kernels in bulk at my local food co-op that carefully vets everything it sells to make sure it’s organic and non-GMO!
I’m so excited to try this. My teenage sons did not like it when I chucked all of the microwave popcorn in our house and refused to buy it anymore. My youngest son just asked me tonight if there was any healthy way to eat popcorn because he missed it!
Since developing a strange allergic reaction to corn recently my N.D. through muscle testing recommended that I stop eating corn and corn by-products. I miss popcorn like you would not believe. Just reading all of this made me happy that I don’t eat it anymore. YIKES. Ignorance is not bliss it’s deadly. I mean I never knew any of this. Thanks for enlightening us Food Babe this was sad and sick to read, shame on these food production companies. Fully well knowing they are killing us. Shame!
Try popped sorghum…
The only left out of this warning is the bag that the microwave popcorn comes in is lined with teflon. Even though teflon at low temperatures is not harmful at the high temperatures needed for popping corn causes the teflon to out gas this gas will kill a bird and is definitely not good for humans.
“The Bag
The bag almost all microwave popcorn varieties come in is lined with perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). This chemical is the same toxic stuff found in teflon pots and pans. It can stay in the environment and in the human body for long periods of time. This chemical when heated has been linked to infertility, cancer and other diseases in lab animals. No long term studies have been conducted on humans, but the EPA lists this substance as a carcinogen. ”
I don’t know if this was added after your comment, but it says exactly what you are saying is missing…. 🙂
And by this same reasoning, it would be bad to eat anything made in coated cookware. Right?
Right! Just use plain metal pans and pots (which have the benefit of releasing very small amounts of metals that your system needs and uses) or ceramic ones.
What about Bearitos? I just bought some of that because I thought it was better 🙁 Oy.
Check the bag. I think Bearitos might not use metal susceptors. If I’m recalling correctly, they will say somewhere on the box or bag.
THANK YOU !!! KEEP TALKING WE ARE LISTENING !!! 😀
Corn is wind pollinated but popcorn will not cross with field corn which is all other corn and corn products. All corn has so much “input” ( farmer talk for chemical fertilizers , herbicides and pesticides) that you should be sure to buy organic popcorn.
I have heard John Roulac of Nutiva speak. John Roulac is the Founder and CEO of Nutiva®, the world’s leading brand of organic hemp foods and coconut oil. A longtime advocate for holistic living, he is the author of four books on hemp and composting. He helped jump-start the modern home-composting movement in the 1990s, sued the U.S. DEA to keep hemp foods legal in 2001, and founded three nonprofit ecological groups. He is not just trying to make a buck.
Re- read Vani’s statements about red palm oil versus palm kernel oil.
Congrats on the CNN gig! Do they choreograph your answers? That cute Don Lemon needs a kick in the you-know- what …… he is so allergic ….. see the bulging lower eyelid. And he is addicted to wheat.
No – it was completely impromptu. I love Don – I think he is a trip.
Hi I’m new to foodbabe and I must say i love it! But what about Whole Foods’ 365 Microvable popcorn? It contains Organic expeller pressed palm oil, organic popcorn , salt and organic butter flavor?! It says on the label 365 products are formulated to avoid genetically engineered ingredients. Please don’t tell me this is considered “bad” too?! It is certified organic as can be.
RECOMMENDATION FROM A POPCORN CONNOISSEUR
White popcorn! I started eating white popcorn back in the 80’s and have never gone back to yellow. I but 50 lbs at a time, just for me, and it takes me about 7 months to eat it.
It’s smaller and more tender and crunchy and you can buy it organic. It does cost more but it’s well worth it.
I’m on a “Baby White” popcorn kick now and I like it even more but I have not found it in organic. The kernels are even smaller, and more crunchy.
Here is the seasoning that I invented, [but not necessarily the healthiest but not bad]
Ingredients:
1] Succanat organic sugar [blend or grind to a fine powder]
2] Garlic powder [fine powder. Not granules]
3] Quality salt [blend or grind into fine powder]
4 parts sugar
4 parts garlic
1 part salt
[I make 1 cup sugar – 1 cup garlic – 1/4 cup salt]
[one can try it without salt or 1 part, more or less of the other ingredients]
Mix them well in a blender and store in the frig. since it very dry there.
Thanks for the great information. I’ll heed your advice and start popping my own instead of using the microwave brands. I wonder what “reusable bags” you’re referring to. I’m not sure plastic food bags like Ziplok are tested for hot foods, and using reusable shopping bags that have never held groceries might be dangerous, too. I know someone retired from the FDA. The biggest warning this person repeated many times is to never use anything to hold food that is not intended for that purpose because it may not have been FDA tested for that and dangerous chemicals can leech from it into the food.
NEVER put any kind of plastic in the microwave, even so- called microwave safe. Paper bags are not much better (have you ever smelled a paper pulp mill?). If you must use the microwave use a glass bowl or quart measuring cup with glass or porcelain plate on top. Pop corn on high 4 or 5 min and put melted butter and salt on it. See Vani’s microwave article for why she and lots of others are against them.
I am sure she means reusable paper bags. But if you want to take some with you to work, you just let it cool down before… By the way, I don’t think popcorn will stay very crunchy in a plastic bag of whatever kind, and even more so when you put it in there while hot which – apart from the probable chemicals that might release – would cause condensation in the bag making the popcorn soggy….
great posts and great info, Foodbabe- thanks so much.
Wish the special “3-for” ingredients were available in London, UK!
Keep it up.
Thank you so much for this we love popcorn but we will start making our own.
I find a wok the perfect pan for popcorn, you may even use less oil because of it’s shape.
I just bought Nutiva’s special deal, adding Coconut Manna to the order and getting free shipping! I am anxious to try the popcorn recipe. I’m also going to ditch my microwave!!!
Is it the same case with organic microwave popcorn?
Thanks for this post! Really great! I’ve started making my own popcorn using coconut oil, nut butters, almond slices and a bit of honey. It tastes sooo yummy ! RX
Throw a little nutritional yeast on top and you’ve got yourself a delicious “cheesy” snack!
Vani, where did you get your stats from? I am trying to follow your example and do research too. I have two of my friends who are food scientists and they think that GMO’s are not bad for you. I tell them that nature made food will always work best for the body and mind, but being scientists they want to see proof. I really appreciate it!
The trouble with waiting for science to prove GMOs are bad is that no human health studies have been done by the FDA, and the FDA relied on very short-term industry-funded animal studies to approve GMOs. Compounding the situation is that very little independent research can even be done because the “Ag-Chem-BioTech” companies that hold patents on GMOs severely restrict independent research. Meanwhile, there are numbers of people, reporting across the US (myself included) that their autoimmune, migraine, gastro-intestinal and/or rash symptoms go away or get better when they switch to an organic diet, and always come back again when they accidentally ingest GMOs. Because our personal reports are anecdotal and not proven by researchers, our accounts are discredited. BTW, reports of people reacting badly to GMOs began surfacing in the late 1990’s, shortly after Bt toxin-engineered corn and cottonseed oil was introduced into the commercial marketplace. It’s been a downhill slide for many families and the current generation of children since.
Thank you Jen. I have to concur with you on that. Just from a personal standpoint I know that all of my ADD symptoms have been destroyed by eating more fruits and veggies, and I eat at least 6 fruits a day along with salads that would feed 10 bunnies. But I feel infinitely better. I do my best to eat as non GMO as I can. But I have to admit that sometimes I just have to have a corndog.
Great post, EXCEPT for the promotion of PALM OIL. For the health of our planet, this should also be boycotted. More info here: http://ecowatch.com/2013/11/10/palm-oil-orangutans-enslaving-workers/
This is from right above the recipe:
“Please note red palm oil is different from palm kernel oil (that is grown in SouthEast Asia and killing orangutans). Red palm oil comes from Ecuador and harvested sustainably.”
Well bless my buttery husk! That info stuck to my ribs and clogged my arteries with knowledge! Thank ya very much! Now on to my fried peanut butter and bananna sandwich!
The popcorn itself (the kernels) are NEVER gmo! There is no gmo popcorn in commercial production anywhere in the world. Any gmo ingredients would be substances added to the popcorn. Companies that claim their popcorn is non-gmo are using fraudulent advertising in attempts to claim their product is butter. All popcorn is non-gmo.
In the US there is no such thing as GMO popcorn sold. See here: http://nongmojournal.com/2013/05/01/day-forty-four-what-corn-is-never-genetically-modified/
Research it.
Use an air popper. No mess, no pan to wash.
Foodbabe
I wanted to let you know of something that most people don’t know about. First I know Trans fats are in the news because the FDA is banning this fat….that’s great but there is something missing here. Meet the mother of Trans Fats….. she is called Interesterified fat. A very popular food named Jiff peanut butter is using it now and so are other foods. The bad thing is they don’t have to list it as a FAT content on the nutritional label on the package, as they are not required to by law. Interesterified fats are worse than Trans fats. Interesterified fat is the food industries trickery for replacing Trans fats in foods with the same bad and even worse health effects than trans fats. Look at the ingredients if it say Fully hydrogenated oils then it has interesterified fat. Why is this fat not been banned along with trans fats?
Used to enjoy your post but more and more do I see you leaning toward scare tactics and false information. Same tactics used by some of these food companies and mansanto. I realize you are passionate about this subject and I try to keep that in mind. You are doing a service but please stop spreading lies and false statements.
DOES organic microwave popcorn have the chemicals (specifically the PFOA) in it? I DO pop it on the stove sometimes – but don’t always have time. So I usually have some organic microwave popcorn around as a back up. Usually Newman’s Own (plain flavor) or Wegmans brand (plain flavor). ALWAYS ORGANIC. But I have recently been wondering about the chemicals in the bag. THANK YOU!!!!
“Organic” means that at least one ingredient is from organic origin, which might not even be the corn… If you are lucky the manufacurer specified what part is. The bags are essentially the same both for organic and non-organic so in that regard they are both bad. But more importantly: the microwave should not be part of your food-preparing utilities….
It appears that newman’s Organic microwave popcorn does NOT use PFA in making the bags. Yea! I found this information on several sites today.
Thank you Foodbabe for all your research and doing this wonderful service. I recently bought a Trail’s End Popcorn and checked the ingredients. It shows Color added without being specific on what colors were added. This is the Popcorn that millions of Boy Scouts throughout America is selling and consuming and it would benefit to understand what goes into making this Popcorn. If you have any info please share for the community. Thank you!
I have been making stove top popcorn for decades now, My wife and I eat it a few nights a week. I can’t wait to try it with the hemp seed, palm oil topping. I might add one bit of advice while making this: Once the kernels begin to pop, shake the pot until the popping slows down. It prevents kernels from sticking to the bottom of the pot and seems to pop more of them.
Please dont use red palm oil 🙁 http://www.saynotopalmoil.com/videos.php
The Red Palm Oil that I am talking about is sustainably harvested in Ecuador by Nutiva. Please check it out and see for yourself. The CEO is a huge environmentalist and would never harvest something that is destroying the earth.
I have registered and paid for the eating guides, but cannot remember user name or password…..can you help? When I try to sign in using e-mail address and password of libcat, error comes up.
Vani,
Awesome recipe, but I need that insane movie theater, buttery taste. I’m thinking of replacing the coconut oil with organic ghee. I’m sure some experimentation is needed, but well worth the effort! Thanks for the inspiration!
LOL, Yes throw out your microwave, stop eating microwave popcorn. I am guessing that you don’t use splenda because you can chlorinate you pool with it?
How fun to read everyone’s popcorn topping suggestions! i’ve been making popcorn from scratch on the stove top, use a couple tablespoons of your favorite oil, turn on high and throw in 3 kernels. when they pop pour in 1/3 to 1/2 cup of kernels. turn it down slightly and shake a few times on the burner. You’ll get the hang of it quickly, and know that you’re eating real, good food! Nutritional yeast gives a nice nutty flavor, too!
You know I am 57 yrs old and have been eating foods cooked in teflon pans since I was a very young girl. I’ve been eating microwaved popcorn for decades and I have no cancer and never have had cancer. I don’t plan on changing my habits because people get on a whelm that this or that is bad for you. If you look hard enough you could find something wrong with practically everything under the sun!
Frankly I think it has to do with people’s genetic makeup if they are prone to getting cancer or not! Apparently I have some pretty good genes, and I intend on wearing them in comfort! 😉
You are of course free to do or not do as you see fit. But what you are essentially saying is that what is being said here is all nonsense because you have never experienced any of the possible negatives. That is like saying “i always drive when drunk and nothing has ever happened, so it must be safe”.
The kind of lifestyle that belongs to the reasoning in this article is one where you leave out the worst potential health risks by choosing conciously. It is more like not crossing the motorway on foot just anywhere, but rather at a bridge or underpass. Sure you can reacht the other side just fine when you don’t, but chances you get hit are a lit bigger.
Sadly I see a lot of people using the “you can see harm in everything, I’d rather live normally” reasoning, especially when it comes to things in which everyone should take their own responsability…
I’m with Willem on this one. Though, Joy, I know where you are coming from. Sadly, the food industry pours more money into research than any of the neutral researchers do and they want to keep us confused so we throw up our hands and give up. It certainly is easier to just do what we do when we hear different things about what’s good and bad. My grandfather recently passed away at age 90 and he smoked and drank like a fish for most of his life. Does that mean he was happy or healthy? No. I am a health coach and work with clients who feel like you, Joy, though they want to make sense of it all. When you eat well you feel much better, have more energy, an improved mood and you promote what Dr. Weil calls “compression of morbidity” (illness). The goal is to live well and have a rapid drop off at the end, hence you squeeze the time you are sick (e.g. disability and decline) into a short time. I don’t always eat well – I eat junk about 10-20% of the time but I’m aiming for 80-90% healthy foods so I can feel great while I’m here and minimize the time I’m sick and dying. Recent research indicates that genetics are only responsible for about 20% of our health outcomes. That means 80% of it is in our hands! We can change the expression of our genes through food and lifestyle choices that we make everyday.
I’m with Willem on this one. Though, Joy, I know where you are coming from. Sadly, the food industry pours more money into research than any of the neutral researchers do and they want to keep us confused so we throw up our hands and give up. It certainly is easier to just do what we do when we hear different things about what’s good and bad. My grandfather recently passed away at age 90 and he smoked and drank like a fish for most of his life. Does that mean he was happy or healthy? No. I am a health coach and work with clients who feel like you, Joy, though they want to make sense of it all. When you eat well you feel much better, have more energy, an improved mood and you promote what Dr. Weil calls “compression of morbidity” (illness). The goal is to live well and have a rapid drop off at the end, hence you squeeze the time you are sick (e.g. disability and decline) into a short time. I don’t always eat well – I eat junk about 10-20% of the time but I’m aiming for 80-90% healthy foods so I can feel great while I’m here and minimize the time I’m sick and dying. Recent research indicates that genetics are only responsible for about 20% of our health outcomes. That means 80% of it is in our hands! We can change the expression of our genes through food and lifestyle choices that we make everyday.
How do you melt the red palm oil?
I found one brand, Quinn (parmesan and rosemary flavor) that has a plain paper bag…no chemicals, coatings, etc. Corn is organic. The oil and seasoning are separate, so you can add as much or as little as you would like. The oil is high oleic sunflower, no soybean in site. I thought it was good. While the home made kind is cheaper, I don’t indulge very often, so this is a good option for me. Have you seen this brand yet? Thoughts?
microwaves are dangerous anyway, I LOVE popcorn but use an air popper to make it, spritz a bit of olive oil on it and sprinkle BBQ seasoning on it…. yummy BBQ popcorn!!!
You make a few good points in your article, but anyone who quotes “Dr.” Mercola aligns themselves with him and looses my respect. The moment you mentioned him in your article, you lost me. I really didn’t want to bother reading any further. Too bad.
I have some questionmarks when I see your comment…
First: By what you state you seem to judge someone not by what they themselves say or do, but by what another person does…
Second: Just because you don’t agree with something(s) a person says, does it automatically mean everything they say is “nonsense”? Even more: you are free to disagree, but they might even be right…
Seems like you are using some pretty crooked standards so base your respect for people on….
Thank you for your great recipe and advice. I am reasonably new to the “healthier and more concious” approach to food and lifestyle and I am looking for all sorts of knowledge to extend my own in this matter. I look through as much knowledge as I can so I can pick out what I agree with and discard what I don’t agree with – which is how everyone should treat other people’s knowledge. You don’t just accept what someone says or writes but use your own common sense to weigh its value to you.
So thank you for sharing your knowledge, that enables me to pick out my “cherries” 😉
Good post! I love popcorn the old school way and I also don’t use a microwave anymore either. One comment I’d make though, is that it’s important to note the smoke point of an oil. If you cook above an oil’s smoke point you produce toxic fumes and harmful free radicals. Coconut oil, while fabulous, has a smoke point of 350 degrees so it’s fine for medium heat cooking but not higher. What to use? Good high heat oils include expeller pressed sunflower, safflower or organic expeller pressed canola oil, (OEPCO). I prefer the latter. While regular canola oil is not a good choice (long story) the OEPCO has a smoke point of 450 and has a perfect ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 fatty acids: 1:1. Most of us need more omega 3s! So that’s another consideration when choosing which oil for cooking. The other options I mentioned do not have this ideal ratio, nor does red palm oil thought it is fine for high heat. After popping organic corn, I like to add a little EVOO and Brewer’s Yeast for added amino acids and B vitamins. YUM.
I’m excited to try this. I make stovetop popcorn already, usually with coconut oil, grapeseed oil, or sunflower oil. To make it cheesy, I add nutritional yeast.
While I agree with your health concerns, I happen to work at one of the biggest producers of microwave popcorn worldwide, weaver popcorn. And I couldn’t be more proud of their stance on safety and quality in the world food market. When diacetyl was found to be dangerous, we immediately removed it, even before the studies were done. We are required every 3 months to take a respiteromety test to ensure that our new ingredients arnt causing damage to our lungs. When soy oil was the top choice because it was easy to use, we decided to switch to the healthier canola oil. It was difficult. Required thousands of dollars worth of new equipment to make it work. It was healthier, so we did it. Weaver popcorn has already addressed all of your negatives, years ago. Before anyone else. So don’t crap on us all. There are some manufacturers out there who care about both their customers and employees, and making money is just a side effect of doing the right thing.
Just n case your not aware http://www.saynotopalmoil.com/videos.php :/
The Red Palm Oil that I am talking about is sustainably harvested in Ecuador by Nutiva. Please check it out and see for yourself. The CEO is a huge environmentalist and would never harvest something that is destroying the earth.
Good to hear!
Im disappointed in you I thought YOU would know better! Here is what happens when you buy red palm oil http://www.saynotopalmoil.com/videos.php GRRRR
Juke – Please relax. Red Palm Oil that I am talking about is sustainably harvested in Ecuador by Nutiva. Please check it out and see for yourself. The CEO is a huge environmentalist and would never harvest something that is destroying the earth.
http://www.orangutan.org.au/palm-oil
Thanks for the article.
I pop my corn on the stove old fashioned style. Tastes much better than air popped. I mix half olive oil and half melted real butter, ( yes butter , the fats good for you ! ). Tastes awesome with a little sea salt.
Great info.
However, I wish there was no sentiment of “Monsanto going bankrupt” in Nutiva’s approach. I wish it was “force a massive, industry-influencing corporation to change their ways.” No good comes from giant employers and influencers cashing it in.