Microwave Popcorn Touch of Butter Kosher Made with Whole Grain Popcorn vs Butter Popcorn Rice Cakes: which is safer?

Quaker Butter Popcorn Rice Cakes 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

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 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 Quaker.
  • We flag Mold or bacterial growth in packaging on the Quaker and not on the Newman's Own.
  • The Newman's Own is paper/paperboard popcorn 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 Newman's Own 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