Cheddar Blast Puffs vs SkinnyPop Butter Microwave Popcorn: which is safer?
Pirate's Booty Cheddar Blast Puffs is the clear pick. SkinnyPop Butter Microwave Popcorn carries a failing PFAS grade, and we never recommend buying a failing product.
Our pick
Pirate's Booty
Cheddar Blast Puffs
PFAS grade
Overall grade
Verdict
Hazard flags
Material
Confidence
PossiblePolymer food-contact lining leaching
PossibleMicroplastic fragmentation
PossibleMoisture barrier failure and mold/bacterial growth
SkinnyPop Butter Microwave Popcorn
PFAS grade
Overall grade
Verdict
Hazard flags
Material
Confidence
PossibleGrease-resistant coating migration (non-PFAS components)
PossibleMicroplastics from bag degradation
PossibleVolatile organic compounds (VOCs) from bag off-gassing
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 .
- We flag Grease-resistant coating migration (non-PFAS components), Microplastics from bag degradation and Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from bag off-gassing on the and not on the Pirate's Booty.
- The Pirate's Booty is paperboard bag with standard food-contact lining where the is Microwave popcorn bag with grease-resistant inner coating, 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 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