Microwave Popcorn 44 Pack Box vs Butter Popcorn Rice Cakes: which is safer?

Quaker Butter Popcorn Rice Cakes is the clear pick. Kirkland Signature Microwave Popcorn 44 Pack Box carries a failing PFAS grade, and we never recommend buying a failing product.

Kirkland Signature Microwave Popcorn 44 Pack Box

Kirkland Signature

Microwave Popcorn 44 Pack Box

PFAS grade

Poor 25/100

Overall grade

Bad 7/100

Verdict

Skip

Hazard flags

⚑ 3

Material

paper microwave bag with grease-resistant coating

Confidence

45%

ReportedGrease-resistant coating composition (likely fluorinated)

PossibleCoating degradation and inhalation risk

PossibleMicroplastics from synthetic coatings

Our pick

Quaker Butter Popcorn Rice Cakes

Quaker

Butter Popcorn Rice Cakes

PFAS grade

Good 70/100

Overall grade

Good 66/100

Verdict

Buy

Hazard flags

⚑ 1

Material

puffed rice cakes in paperboard packaging

Confidence

72%

PossibleMold or bacterial growth in packaging

Where these two actually differ

  • We flag Grease-resistant coating composition (likely fluorinated), Coating degradation and inhalation risk and Microplastics from synthetic coatings on the Kirkland Signature and not on the Quaker.
  • We flag Mold or bacterial growth in packaging on the Quaker and not on the Kirkland Signature.
  • The Kirkland Signature is paper microwave bag with grease-resistant coating where the Quaker is puffed rice cakes in paperboard packaging, which is most of the difference in these two grades.
  • The gap is 45 points, wide enough that this is not a close call, and the Quaker is the one to buy.
  • We are less certain about the Kirkland Signature grade, at 45% confidence against 72%, because it discloses less.

Both products run through the same public rubric, which covers materials, coatings, brand disclosure, lab findings, and recalls, plus a beyond-PFAS hazard analysis. Grades are model-based estimates, not lab tests. How grades work →

More microwave popcorn, see the full ranking