Butter Popcorn Rice Cakes vs Crispy Minis: which is safer?
Quaker Butter Popcorn Rice Cakes is the clear pick. Quaker Crispy Minis carries a failing PFAS grade, and we never recommend buying a failing product.
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
Quaker
Crispy Minis
PFAS grade
Good 60/100
Overall grade
Good 56/100
Verdict
Skip
Hazard flags
⚑ 1
Material
paperboard box, film pouch
Confidence
35%
PossibleMoisture ingress or mold in storage
Where these two actually differ
- We flag Mold or bacterial growth in packaging on the Quaker and not on the Quaker.
- We flag Moisture ingress or mold in storage on the Quaker and not on the Quaker.
- The Quaker is puffed rice cakes in paperboard packaging where the Quaker is paperboard box, film pouch, which is most of the difference in these two grades.
- We are less certain about the Quaker grade, at 35% 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