Cheddar Blast Puffs vs Butter Popcorn Rice Cakes: which is safer?
Quaker Butter Popcorn Rice Cakes is our pick, better on PFAS and on the overall hazard picture.
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
Our pick
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 Polymer food-contact lining leaching, Microplastic fragmentation and Moisture barrier failure and mold/bacterial growth on the Pirate's Booty and not on the Quaker.
- We flag Mold or bacterial growth in packaging on the Quaker and not on the Pirate's Booty.
- The Pirate's Booty is paperboard bag with standard food-contact lining where the Quaker is puffed rice cakes in paperboard packaging, which is most of the difference in these two grades.
- These two are level, close enough that price and fit should decide it rather than our grade.
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