Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn Movie Theater Butter vs Butter Popcorn Rice Cakes: which is safer?

Quaker Butter Popcorn Rice Cakes is the clear pick. Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn Movie Theater Butter carries a failing PFAS grade, and we never recommend buying a failing product.

Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn Movie Theater Butter

Microwave Popcorn

Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn Movie Theater Butter

PFAS grade

Poor 25/100

Overall grade

Bad 0/100

Verdict

Skip

Hazard flags

⚑ 3

Material

Microwave bag with grease-resistant paper and plastic lining

Confidence

45%

LikelyPFAS in grease-resistant coating

PossiblePlastic lining degradation and microplastics

PossiblePhthalates in plastic films

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 PFAS in grease-resistant coating, Plastic lining degradation and microplastics and Phthalates in plastic films on the Microwave Popcorn and not on the Quaker.
  • We flag Mold or bacterial growth in packaging on the Quaker and not on the Microwave Popcorn.
  • The Microwave Popcorn is Microwave bag with grease-resistant paper and plastic lining 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 Microwave Popcorn 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