Microwave Popcorn

Actually, it’s not popcorn, per se, that people should be worried about. It’s the microwave bag in which it cooks that many experts say is the problem.

Popcorn itself is healthy. It’s a whole-grain food, high in fiber and antioxidants and, if not doused in fat, a pretty low-cal snack.

The problem is the chemicals used in the lining of the bag, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA).

PFOA is also used to make Teflon and other stain- and stick-resistant materials, including pizza boxes. It’s part of a number of compounds that have caused liver, testicular and pancreatic cancer in animals. The chemicals may also be linked to infertility in women, according to a recent study at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Earlier this year, a study found that these chemicals may prevent childhood vaccinations from working properly. Children who had higher concentrations of the chemicals in their blood had a lower level of protection against some childhood diseases for which they had been vaccinated.

Popcorn with artificial flavoring is also a concern. A few years ago, microwave popcorn was slammed for the use of diacetyl in its artificial butter flavor, which caused a rare type of lung disease among workers who inhaled it at microwave popcorn factories.

Most manufacturers have removed diaceytl from their products, but it’s been replaced with other kinds of butter flavoring that some government scientists say are just as bad as the original stuff.

Make your own microwave popcorn. Use a brown paper lunch bag, combine 1⁄4 cup popping corn with 1⁄4 teaspoon salt and fold the top of the bag over a couple of times (some people tape it shut). Microwave on high for 2 to 3 minutes, until there are 4 or 5 seconds between pops. Open the bag or container carefully, because steam will have built up. Toss with your seasonings and a drizzle of butter or olive oil or serve as is.

You can add oil to the bag at the beginning if you like, but this will yield a slightly greasy bag (so — you use a bowl). And of course you can top the finished product with melted butter or any spice you want. This enables you to have microwaved popcorn but with your choice of popcorn and oil, and, if you were to make popcorn daily, to save hundreds of dollars a year. At every supermarket in the country, microwave popcorn sells for at least $4 a pound and usually closer to $6. Ordinary popcorn is about $1 a pound, or less; good organic popcorn is about $2 a pound.