Microwave Popcorn Touch of Butter Kosher Made with Whole Grain Popcorn vs Cheddar Blast Puffs: which is safer?

Pirate's Booty Cheddar Blast Puffs is the clear pick. Newman's Own Microwave Popcorn Touch of Butter Kosher Made with Whole Grain Popcorn carries a failing PFAS grade, and we never recommend buying a failing product.

Newman's Own Microwave Popcorn Touch of Butter Kosher Made with Whole Grain Popcorn

Newman's Own

Microwave Popcorn Touch of Butter Kosher Made with Whole Grain Popcorn

PFAS grade

Poor 25/100

Overall grade

Bad 0/100

Verdict

Skip

Hazard flags

⚑ 4

Material

paper/paperboard popcorn bag with grease-resistant coating

Confidence

45%

LikelyPFAS in grease-resistant bag coating

PossibleCoating degradation under heat stress

PossibleMineral oil or paraffin in susceptor layer

Our pick

Pirate's Booty Cheddar Blast Puffs

Pirate's Booty

Cheddar Blast Puffs

PFAS grade

Good 70/100

Overall grade

Good 58/100

Verdict

Buy

Hazard flags

⚑ 3

Material

paperboard bag with standard food-contact lining

Confidence

72%

PossiblePolymer food-contact lining leaching

PossibleMicroplastic fragmentation

PossibleMoisture barrier failure and mold/bacterial growth

Where these two actually differ

  • We flag PFAS in grease-resistant bag coating, Coating degradation under heat stress, Mineral oil or paraffin in susceptor layer and Microplastic shedding from bag lining on the Newman's Own and not on the Pirate's Booty.
  • We flag Polymer food-contact lining leaching, Microplastic fragmentation and Moisture barrier failure and mold/bacterial growth on the Pirate's Booty and not on the Newman's Own.
  • The Newman's Own is paper/paperboard popcorn bag with grease-resistant coating where the Pirate's Booty is paperboard bag with standard food-contact lining, 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 Pirate's Booty is the one to buy.
  • We are less certain about the Newman's Own grade, at 45% confidence against 72%, because it discloses less.

Both products run through the same public rubric: 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