Cheddar Blast Puffs vs Skinnypop Microwave Sea Salt Popcorn: which is safer?
Pirate's Booty Cheddar Blast Puffs is the clear pick. Skinnypop Microwave Sea Salt 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
Skinny Pop
Skinnypop Microwave Sea Salt Popcorn
PFAS grade
Overall grade
Verdict
Hazard flags
Material
Confidence
LikelyPFAS in bag lining
PossibleBPA or BPS in lining adhesives
PossiblePhthalates in bag inks or dyes
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 Skinny Pop.
- We flag PFAS in bag lining, BPA or BPS in lining adhesives and Phthalates in bag inks or dyes on the Skinny Pop and not on the Pirate's Booty.
- The Pirate's Booty is paperboard bag with standard food-contact lining where the Skinny Pop is Paper/paperboard microwave popcorn bag with grease-resistant 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 Skinny Pop 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