Popcorn is not the healthy snack that many people believe it to be and some popular brands contain very high levels of salt and sugar, researchers have said.
Consensus Action on Salt & Health (Cash) found some cinema popcorn in the UK contains nearly 30 teaspoons of sugar – more than would be found in three cans of cola.
The same cinema chain’s large salted popcorn contains nearly the maximum daily recommended intake of salt for an adult, which Cash said was the equivalent of two McDonald’s Big Macs and fries – with nearly the same amount of calories.
The campaign group accused the food industry of “disguising highly processed snacks like popcorn with a healthy halo”, and said it is calling on companies to reduce the high levels of salt and sugar in their popcorn.
Its survey of the salt content of 154 flavoured popcorn products sold in major supermarkets, cafes and cinemas found nearly one in four (23 per cent) contained dangerously high levels of salt.
The worst offenders were popcorn sold by cinema chains, with Cineworld selling a large salted popcorn containing 5.1g, Empire Cinemas offering popcorn with 3.7g of salt per pack and My Vue’s large salted popcorn having 3.1g of salt per pack.
The saltiest supermarket popcorn in the survey (based on 100g) was found to be Popcorn Kitchen’s Sea Salt & Olive Oil, which contained 3.5g of salt per 100g, followed by Metcalfe’s Skinny Popcorn White Cheese, which contained 3.45g of salt per 100g.
Other products with particularly high levels of salt included Metcalfe’s Skinny Topcorn Wasabi Glaze (0.9g salt per 25g portion), McEnnedy Microwave Popcorn Butter Flavour from Lidl (0.88g salt per 40g portion), Metcalfe’s Skinny Popcorn White Cheese (0.86g salt per 25g portion) and Pret A Manger Rock Salt Popcorn (0.8g salt per 29g portion).
Cineworld popcorn was also found to be the worst when it came to high levels of sugar, with its toffee popcorn containing 121g of sugar per 200g pack, equivalent to 30 teaspoons of sugar.
The sweetest also popcorn included Morrisons Toffee Popcorn (32.5g of sugar per 50g portion, or eight teaspoons), Asda Chosen by You Toffee Popcorn (29g of sugar per 50g portion, or 7.3 teaspoons) and Aldi’s Popcorn Toffee (19g of sugar per 40g portion, or 4.8 teaspoons).
Cash nutritionist Sonia Pombo said: “Popcorn has reinvented itself as a healthy and flavoursome snack but not all brands are delivering on this – with certain products containing dangerously high levels of salt and sugars.
“Plain popcorn can still be eaten as part of a healthy diet and provides wholegrains, fibre and antioxidants, so be sure to read the label and opt for healthier versions. Or better yet, make your own from scratch.”
Graham MacGregor, Cash chairman and professor of cardiovascular medicine at the Wolfson Institute of Preventative Medicine, Queen Mary University of London, said: “This is a perfect example of the food industry taking something that is good for health and ruining it by adding large amounts of salt and sugar.
“Salt puts up our blood pressure, leading to strokes and heart disease. Reducing salt is one of the most cost-effective measures to reduce the number of people suffering and dying; the food industry needs to act now.”
Victoria Taylor, senior dietitian at the British Heart Foundation, said: “A bowl of popcorn can be a healthy snack if it’s eaten plain, without added salt and sugar.
“But if you are grabbing a snack on the go or at the cinema then it seems that you might get more than you are expecting.
“The surest way to avoid hidden salt and sugar in your popcorn is to make your own. It’s easy to do and can be flavoured with spices like paprika or cinnamon rather than salt or mixed with dried fruit for a bit of sweetness without adding sugar or syrup.”