Once and for all: is microwave popcorn actually bad for you?

You understand that a bowl of plain crisps doesn’t count as your recommended daily serving of vegetables. A shame, perhaps, but you’ll really have to add a load of raw vegetables to it if you want to mentally give yourself a tick in the box that evening. And be honest: have you ever thought, when it comes to popcorn, ‘Corn! So, vegetables!’?

Recognisable, right? We also feel like we’re being just a little healthier when we’re sitting on the sofa with a giant bowl of popcorn than with a bag of crisps. And as you may know: here at our editorial office, no drinks gathering goes by without popping popcorn in the microwave. But microwave popcorn: how (un)healthy is it actually?

Proven harmful

There has been a lot of discussion about the potential health dangers this snack could pose. In fact, it’s not just “potential” danger: genuinely harmful chemicals were used and found on the inside of those microwave popcorn bags.

Live and learn

But the use of those substances, at least in this way, has been banned for some time now. Since 2015, for example, PFOA, a harmful PFAS substance, has no longer been permitted as a coating in the familiar microwave popcorn bags. The fact that it used to be in them may not have been widely known, but it was often said in more general terms that microwave popcorn was bad for you. That these substances have been banned since 2015 may be even less well known.

Homemade is even tastier

So that’s quite positive on that front; you don’t need to worry about it. That doesn’t mean, however, that microwave popcorn is suddenly healthy. It often contains amounts of fat, sugar or salt, plus other added substances that are difficult to keep track of. Whereas if you simply make popcorn in a pan, you have complete control over that yourself.

An added benefit is that you can add exactly the flavourings you feel like! Furikake is an absolute favourite of mine, for example, but brown butter, Maldon salt and a pinch of smoked hot paprika are also insanely delicious over popcorn. And what about this honey-sriracha popcorn?! Though we have to say, with the looming sriracha shortage, it might be wise to get used to a different hot sauce in advance…

Also read:

• Tested: these are the tastiest plain crisps from the supermarket
• Unpopped popcorn? This hack gets it out of the bag
• Fast-food packaging contains life-threatening PFAS