Butter Popcorn Rice Cakes vs Skinnypop Gluten-Free Sea Salt Microwave Popcorn: which is safer?
Quaker Butter Popcorn Rice Cakes is the clear pick. Skinnypop Gluten-Free Sea Salt Microwave Popcorn 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
Skinnypop Gluten-Free Sea Salt Microwave Popcorn
PFAS grade
Poor 25/100
Overall grade
Bad 3/100
Verdict
Skip
Hazard flags
⚑ 2
Material
paper/cardboard microwave popcorn bag with grease-resistant coating
Confidence
45%
LikelyPFAS in bag lining (fluorochemical grease coating)
PossibleCoating degradation and leaching over time
Where these two actually differ
- We flag Mold or bacterial growth in packaging on the Quaker and not on the .
- We flag PFAS in bag lining (fluorochemical grease coating) and Coating degradation and leaching over time on the and not on the Quaker.
- The Quaker is puffed rice cakes in paperboard packaging where the is paper/cardboard microwave popcorn bag with grease-resistant 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 Quaker 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, 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