In addition to the dried corn, the bags typically contain cooking oil with sufficient saturated fat to solidify at room temperature, one or more seasonings (often salt), and natural or artificial flavorings or both.

Even so, there remain concerns that certain ingredients in microwave popcorn can turn an otherwise healthy snack into an unhealthy one. This includes high amounts of saturated fat and salt (sodium) which can increase a person's risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke.

Connect Snacks shares that its popcorn bags are made from FDA-approved, grease-resistant PFAS-free papers that were engineered for microwave popcorn packaging.

Many microwave popcorn bags are lined with PFAS (perfluoroalkyls and polyfluoroalkyl substances), and evidence has shown that these chemicals will leach into the snack during popping.

Microwave popcorn is cooked using electromagnetic waves generated by the microwave, while stovetop popcorn is cooked by direct heat. Microwave popcorn also typically contains added chemicals and artificial flavors, whereas stovetop popcorn allows for more control over the ingredients and flavorings used.

However, microwave popcorn is up there as a processed food as it contains palm oil which, when you put it in the microwave to 'pop,' may increase the trans-fats. Look out for the high sugar and salt content in some brands, too.

Considering the questions that continue to surround the safety of consuming PFAS, we think it would be reasonable to curtail the daily use of microwave popcorn. Instead, you could save it for an occasional treat. If your kids are flexible, you might switch to a different type of evening snack.

air-popped “The healthiest way to eat popcorn is typically air-popped with no oil or butter and minimal salt added,” Walsh says. “However, there are numerous bagged popcorn products that come pretty close to matching the nutritional facts of air-popped popcorn such as SkinnyPop or BoomChickaPop.”

The researchers found that people who ate microwave popcorn every day over the course of a year had levels of PFAS that were up to 63% higher than average. Considering the questions that continue to surround the safety of consuming PFAS, we think it would be reasonable to curtail the daily use of microwave popcorn.

Diacetyl, a chemical used to give microwave popcorn its buttery flavor and aroma, is linked to severe and irreversible lung damage when inhaled in large amounts. Popcorn lung makes the small airways in the lungs (bronchioles) become scarred and narrowed to the point where they can't let in enough air.

Without exception, all of the popcorn bags tested positive for one or more PFAS. For example, Jolly Time and Act II bags often had perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA) and perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA); Cousin Willie's bags often had fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs); and Preferred Popcorn bags often had FTOHs and PFHxA.

Here are my final results, ranked from worst to best.

• Angie's BoomChickaPop Real Butter Popcorn.
• Act II Butter Lovers Microwave Popcorn.
• Pop Secret Homestyle Butter Premium Popcorn.
• Orville Redenbacher's Butter Gourmet Popping Corn.
• Skinnygirl Popcorn.
• 365 Organic Buttery Flavor Microwave Popcorn.

If you look at a bag a popcorn bag. There is you can kind of see a gray square. And it's on the side that you're supposed to put facedown in the microwave.

Ready-to-eat foods, such as crackers, chips and deli meat, are more heavily processed. The most heavily processed foods often are frozen or premade meals, including frozen pizza and microwaveable dinners.

As a whole grain, popcorn is high in fiber, which is good for digestive health and promoting regular bowel movements.

In addition to being high in fiber, popcorn also contains phenolic acids, a type of antioxidant. In addition, popcorn is a whole grain, an important food group that may reduce the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension in humans. Whole grains are known to offer many health benefits to humans.