Healthy Food Chart

Popcorn is back in the news after a 1994 report about the amount of fat and calories, and the use of trans-fats in movie theater popcorn. The recent report from the Center for Science in the Public Interest revealed how unhealthy movie theater popcorn still is.

At Regal movie theaters a large popcorn has 20 cups of popcorn and 1,200 calories and 60 grams of fat and they use oil that contains trans fats. Even a small popcorn can be damaging to your diet. A small popcorn at AMC theaters has 6 cups of popcorn and 20 grams of saturated fat. Some good news is Cinemark theaters use canola oil that does not have trans-fats.

After the first report about movie theater popcorn many theaters did change their popcorn to make it healthier, but consumer demand made them bring back the traditional popcorn.

If you are looking to lose weight movie theater popcorn is a snack to avoid, but if it something you must have then share a small sized one with a friend or ask for a kiddie sized - many theaters have them but you need to ask for it. Remember to enjoy your popcorn with water - it is a better choice than regular or diet soda - and it will help flush out the sodium.