Butter Popcorn Rice Cakes vs Farms Sweet: which is safer?
Quaker Butter Popcorn Rice Cakes is our pick: better on PFAS and on the overall hazard picture.
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
Wabash Valley
Farms Sweet
PFAS grade
Good 70/100
Overall grade
Good 58/100
Verdict
Buy
Hazard flags
⚑ 3
Material
paper-based food packaging with standard coating
Confidence
65%
PossibleInk migration (printing on exterior or interior)
PossibleMold and microbial growth if moisture enters
PossibleDegradation of coating under heat or light
Where these two actually differ
- We flag Mold or bacterial growth in packaging on the Quaker and not on the Wabash Valley.
- We flag Ink migration (printing on exterior or interior), Mold and microbial growth if moisture enters and Degradation of coating under heat or light on the Wabash Valley and not on the Quaker.
- The Quaker is puffed rice cakes in paperboard packaging where the Wabash Valley is paper-based food packaging with standard coating, which is most of the difference in these two grades.
- These two are level, close enough that price and fit should decide it rather than our grade.
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