Popcorn has a long history in North America. The discovery that corn, a staple food for Native Americans, could be transformed into a tasty, light portable snack took place hundreds of years ago. Since then, popcorn has become a super star of snacks for kids, families and movie theaters. With the invention of the microwave, people started popping popcorn without pots, pans or an open fire. Act II, a division of the ConAgra corporation, sells several varieties of microwaveable popcorn. Its Old Fashioned Natural style harkens back to the original popcorn of Native Americans, made with only oil and salt.
Identification
Act II makes several styles of popcorn, many of which include butter or butter flavoring. The company also makes caramel popcorn. The nutritional profile of each variety differs depending on the amount of butter, seasonings and salt. The only oil-popped popcorn available from Act II as of 2011 is the Old Fashion Natural, according to the company's website. The company originally marketed this variety as Act II Natural Flavor.
Serving Sizes
The serving size for Act II popcorn is one cup, although few people have the discipline to eat just one cup at a time. A bag of Old Fashioned Natural popcorn contains approximately 5 cups of popped popcorn. Unless you are sharing your finished popcorn, it is quite possible that you will eat 5 cups at a time, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
Nutrition
A single 1-cup serving of Act II's Old Fashioned Natural popcorn has 30 calories. Since the popcorn contains oil, it has 2 g of fat and 1 g of this fat is saturated. This 1-cup serving has 25 g of sodium, less than 1 g of protein and 4 g of carbohydrates, according to the product nutrition label displayed by the Diet Facts website. Act II popcorn does not contain trans fats or cholesterol. By comparison, My Foodopedia shows that regular oil-popped popcorn contains 55 calories per cup, when popped in 1 tsp. of oil.
Profile Comparison
The Center for Science in the Public Interest compared various microwave popcorn products in 2003 and ranked the healthiest choices. The factors that CSPI used were the calories per serving and per bag, total saturated fat, trans fat content and sodium content. The "Best Bites" contained no more than 200 mg of sodium, 4 g of sugar and 1 g of saturated fat. CSPI used a 5-cup serving size for this comparison because the organization believes that it is a more accurate measure of the amount of popcorn that most people eat at one time. CSPI averaged the content of five cups of Act II Butter and Old Fashioned Natural and reported that this size serving has 190 calories, 11 g of fat, with 2 g of saturated fat and 150 mg of sodium.
Controversy
Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved its use in food, considerable controversy surrounds the addition of diacetyl in microwave popcorn. The main use for this chemical is to give popcorn a buttery taste without the addition of butter. In response to consumer concerns, Act II's parent company, ConAgra, announced in 2007 that it has eliminated this additive in its microwave popcorn products.
References
- Diet Facts: Act II Old Fashioned Natural Microwavable Popcorn
- ConAgra Foods: ConAgra Foods Introduces Orville Redenbacher's and ACT II Microwave Popcorn with a New Great Tasting Butter Flavoring with No Added Diacetyl
- Act II: Old Fashioned Natural
- Center for Science in the Public Interest: The Top Pops; Jayne Hurley and Bonnie Liebman; March, 2003
- U.S. Department of Agriculture Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion: My Foodapedia
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