Healthier Microwave Popcorn

September 1, 2007 7:41 AM

I understand that Pop Weaver Microwave Popcorn no longer has Diacetyl - an ingredient for flavoring. How can you tell which packages no longer have Diacetyl?
posted by cmh0150 to Food & Drink (3 answers total)

Since Weaver was the first to do so and that was only from two days ago, the only way to tell is to look and see if it is Weaver. Once that catches on, expect to see "diacetyl-free!" on the packaging -- it's going to raise manufacturer's costs, so you can be sure that they'll try to take advantage of the brand differentiation.

In the meantime you can make your own microwave popcorn!
posted by mendel at 7:52 AM on September 1, 2007

(It occurs to me that you could also buy brands that are not buttery-flavored, just salted -- the buttery flavor is where the diacetyl comes in. But then you're still supporting companies whose workers are exposed to aerosol diacetyl in the plants.)
posted by mendel at 7:53 AM on September 1, 2007

I make my own microwave popcorn for this very reason--hated all the weird and freaky additives. Using paper bags kind of sketched me out because I wasn't sure this technique was really an improvement on the question of chemicals, nor are they meant to be food-safe when heated.

I am a fervent Cook's Illustrated subscriber (print version of America's Test Kitchen) and they recently reviewed microwave air poppers. The two they recommended were the Back to Basics popper, $9.99 from mendingshed.com, and the Nordic Ware 3-Quart popper, from cooking.com, $9.95. I bought the Back to Basics popper. (I think the shipping costs made it slightly cheaper.) Some of the best ten bucks (plus shipping) you can spend. Just put in 1/3 cup popcorn (get at the supermarket in a bag or in the bulk section of food co-ops), nuke for three minutes, and you're done. Then you can salt and butter to taste. It's also insanely cheaper than microwave popcorn and the real butter is so much tastier.

I remember finding the mendingshed site a little odd, but the transaction was perfectly smooth.
posted by Herkimer at 5:16 PM on September 1, 2007