Jolly Time is one of the numerous microwave popcorn brands on the market. The company was founded in Sioux City, Iowa, in 1914. Jolly Time offers several flavors of its basic microwave popcorn product including some that are healthy and some that are not healthy. KeepKidsHealthy.com explains that popcorn itself is nutritious, but becomes a junk food when butter, salt and various other flavorings are piled on.
Ingredients
All packages of Jolly Time microwave popcorn contain popcorn, palm oil and some form of artificial flavors and preservatives, according to JollyTime.com. Consumers may also add on salt, butter, soy, other oils, sugars and starch. Some Jolly Time Fun Flavors contain special ingredients like marshmallow cream, dehydrated salsa, cheese and caramel. The more flavors found in the product the lower the microwave popcorn falls on the healthy snack list.
Serving Size
As with any meal or snack, serving size is an important factor when determining the nutrition information. KeepKidsHealthy.com states that three cups is a standard serving of popcorn. As more ingredients are included in the popcorn product, the number of calories found in that 3 cup serving can increase, as can fat grams.
Calories
Air-popped popcorn contains 93 calories per 3-cup serving, according to KidsHealth.com. Jolly Time has several varieties of popcorn that contain close to this, including the 100 Calorie bag of butter-flavored popcorn, Healthy Pop Kettle Corn and Low Sodium 100 Calorie Healthy Pop Butter. The standard-sized bags tout a 5-cup serving of popped popcorn resulting in about 100 calories for each of the 94 percent fat free varieties and about 150 calories for the butter-flavored varieties. On the higher end of the calorie intake, the Fun Flavors, such as Mallow Magic, contain about 300 calories per recommended 5-cup serving. Consumers can reduce the serving size to limit the calorie intake in these heftier snack options.
Benefits
Regardless of the toppings found on the popcorn, a 5-cup serving of Jolly Time microwave popcorn provides 3 grams of dietary fiber, 1 gram of protein and 2 percent of the daily recommended amount of iron per serving, according to JollyTime.com. Fiber, protein and iron are all important components of a balanced diet. KeepKidsHealthy.com indicates that a serving of microwave popcorn contains more fiber than a white-flour snack food alternative, making it a healthier choice compared to many other snack foods.
Considerations
Microwave popcorn is nearly fat free until butter, oil and other toppings are added. Many of the Jolly Time microwave popcorn products have added oil to allow consumers to prepare them in the microwave. Some of the products contain saturated fats and trans fats, both considered to be unhealthy forms of fat. There are reduced fat varieties. Nearly all of the butter-flavored or other flavored varieties contain at least 2 grams of fat per serving. On the higher end is the Blast O Butter popcorn with 12 grams of fat per serving, making this snack food anything but healthy.
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