Fans of microwave popcorn look away. Now look back. Let’s work through this together, we all know we’re not going to stop gobbling down this heavenly snack so let’s make a few changes to our routine and forget we ever had this chat.

Let’s run through the four nasty facts about what’s hidden inside that bag and see what the solution offered is, courtesy of SafeBee:

1. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). Also found in the coatings on some nonstick cookware, the inside of pizza boxes and firefighting foam this chemical is used in the linings of some microwave popcorn bags.

You can avoid this by checking your label carefully, although new laws passed in America will see PFOA’s phased out completely by the end of this year. Here’s hoping our brands get on board too.

2. Trans fats. Linked with heart disease, stroke and diabetes, these “Franken fats” are still found in many microwave popcorn varieties.

Well we all knew that buttery goodness had to have something bad for us in it. Again, just check the label as most brands should have a zero trans fat option.

3. Saturated fat. This is stuff that clogs arteries and raises “bad” LDL cholesterol.

Back to checking the Nutritional Facts box closely, although they are using the word ‘nutritional’ liberally on most products.

4. Sodium. We know — what’s popcorn without salt? But if you’re trying to reduce your sodium intake to help control or prevent high blood pressure, microwave popcorn can be a salt bomb worth sidestepping.

As William Wallace may have said were he a microwave popcorn lover you can take my trans fats but you will never take my salt. Just check the label and maybe consider grabbing a lower sodium option.

All of the above could be rectified by making your own popcorn by kernel, of course, but ain’t nobody got time for that.

[source:safebee]