Homestyle Microwave Popcorn vs Butter Popcorn Rice Cakes: which is safer?
Quaker Butter Popcorn Rice Cakes is the clear pick. Pop Secret Homestyle Microwave Popcorn carries a failing PFAS grade, and we never recommend buying a failing product.
Pop Secret
Homestyle Microwave Popcorn
PFAS grade
Overall grade
Verdict
Hazard flags
Material
Confidence
PossiblePFAS and fluorinated coating migration
PossibleNon-fluorinated coating alternatives (unidentified)
ReportedMicrowave-induced coating degradation
Our pick
Quaker
Butter Popcorn Rice Cakes
PFAS grade
Overall grade
Verdict
Hazard flags
Material
Confidence
PossibleMold or bacterial growth in packaging
Where these two actually differ
- We flag PFAS and fluorinated coating migration, Non-fluorinated coating alternatives (unidentified), Microwave-induced coating degradation and Lack of brand transparency and third-party verification on the Pop Secret and not on the Quaker.
- We flag Mold or bacterial growth in packaging on the Quaker and not on the Pop Secret.
- The Pop Secret is paperboard 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 Pop Secret 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