Buttered Popcorn?

[Guest jokamo]

Hey everyone! Hope you all are doing okay!

I have a question. The other day I ate a small amount( thank goodness) of buttered popcorn. It was the kind that you get at a small carnival, (a small rolling concession stand with small bags). I figured it would be okay since I have eaten microwaveable popcorn without any problems. I know it was the popcorn because it was the only thing I had eaten that afternoon(I didn't eat breakfast). I ate it about 12 noon and by 5 pm I was sooo bloated, that I looked like I was 6 months pregnant (I'm not). Has anyone ever had problems with butter on the popcorn. I can't eat anything with caramel coloring in it even though in the US it is "supposed" to be made with corn, but I am not sensitive with corn. I get really sick with the caramel coloring, I can't figure out why. And I also get sick with Maltodextrose (Splenda). I am confused. How come I can eat corn chips or taco shells or just plain corn without any problems, but I can't eat an addidtive that is supposed to be made from corn??? I don't get it!!!

Sorry for ranting. Just trying to figure this out so that I don't get sick anymore, because when I get sick, not only do I get the stomach pain and D but My lupus and Fibromyalgia flare up and cause extreme pain for days and sometimes weeks depending on what I ate!!!

Thanks for the help!

Jodi M.

[TLT]

I can eat popcorn with butter if I air pop it and melt butter, but the stuff out makes celiac go off, maybe it is a mysterious ingredient in the butter stuff they put on it. I would avoid.

[ginghamkim]

Hi!

I'm a popcorn lover and just had to respond. When I went gluten-free, I gave away all my microwave popcorn. I can't remember the ingredients specifically, but it has all kinds of bad stuff in it...msg (can be labeled something different), soy, artifical butter flavor...who really knows what it is. I agree with TLT, air-popped is best. I stay away from dairy (newbie) and use olive oil with curry, ginger, sugar, and salt...yummy. I noticed that its not the butter I craved, but the salt (watch out blood pressure)

I would give popcorn another shot...eat it air-popped or pop it with olive oil (not canola, corn, vege/soy) and salt.

Good luck,

Kim

[ptkds]

So, are yall saying that microwave popcorn is bad?? I eat it all the time (which is really wierd, because before I couldn't stand popcorn). I don't have a reaction at all. If I had to use an air popper all the time, we would NEVER have popcorn!

Thanks,

ptkds

[2Boys4Me]

Act II and Scout popcorn are gluten-free - at least in Canada.

I have a hard time believing it was the butter. I'd suspect the flavouring salt before I'd suspect butter-esque topping.

[MaryJones2]

I just saw something on CNN last night about a condition called popcorn lung. The butter flavoring contains a chemical called diacetyl and it apparently made a lot of factory workers sick so I guess it's possible that if you eat popcorn every day that it could affect you in some way. I had to cut out the bagged popcorn because something in it disagreed with me.

Here is an article from the Washington Post about popcorn lung.

Open Original Shared Link

[JillianLindsay]

What about light butter flavour by Great Value brand (Wal-Mart Canada)? It lists natural and artificial flavours in the ingredients. Does anyone know if this is gluten-free? I can't find anything online. I've got such a craving and it's the only kind in the house right now!

Thanks

Jillian

[lovegrov]

Among the microwave popcorns I don't know of any that have gluten. You might want to avoid them for all the other things they have, but that's your choice.

As for rolling popcorn stands, theaters, fairs, and amusement parks, nobody can say that without a doubt all are gluten-free. However, we do know that the most popular popcorn flavoring or fake butter in the U.S. -- Flavacol (sp??) -- is gluten-free, and of course real butter would be gluten-free. This is another category where, in 8 years, I have yet to find one with gluten -- at least among the ones I've been able to check.

richard

[Juliebove]

Most microwave popcorn is in fact very bad for you. You can get some plain popcorn with no oil, salted or unsalted that is not bad for you. Bearitos is one brand and so is Garden of Eatin'. There is another. Farmer something or other. I want to say Farmer Steve.

[tarnalberry]

want 'air popped' popcorn without pulling out the air popper?

put a 1/4 cup of popcorn (kernels) in a lunch sized paper bag; roll the top up two or three times, and staple each side (at least three inches apart). pop in the microwave (the staples are far enough away that they will not arc and are safe) for somewhere between 1.5 and 3 minutes (take out when the rate of popping really falls off).

tasty, and easy!

[larry mac]

I eat microwave popcorn all the time. Never had a problem. I like it real yellow and buttery so I only pop it about half way. Lots of unpopped kernels but the popped ones are oh so good! I don't believe there's gluten in there, but you just might not tolerate the oils and such for some reason. I realize it's probably not the most healthy thing one could eat, but given that I can't eat all the other unhealthy things I used to love, I think it's a pretty good trade off.

My fav is Pop Secret extra butter. Super cheap at Walmart.

best regards, lm

p.s., That "popcorn lung" is only a problem for the factory workers. And one poor schmuck who ate like 15 bags a day and purposely inhaled the steam from all the just popped microwave bags he cooked.

[Generic]

The last 2 times the family and I had popcorn at the theater all 3 of us got sick. The first time I didn't think anything of it, since we all got sick at different times. We go to the theater so rarely I didn't put two and two together until we all got sick again, this time within about an hour of one another. They definately changed something. I don't know what it is thou. We just won't eat it anymore.

[lovegrov]

What theater chain? Did you check ingredients? Is there some weird situation where CC could be happening? I ask because this would be a help to everybody here. This is the first I've heard in a VERY long tome of anybody suspecting gluten in theater popcorn.

richard

[hannahp57]

I eat carmike cinemas buttered popcorn. not those gourmet ones though. havent been brave enough to try those. but as far as the buttered popcorn, i havent had a problem. other than feeling too full because some days too much corn gives me almost like indigestion maybe? not sure. but ive never been glutened is my point here.

[Generic]

The theater is Regal cinemas. I didn't bother to ask, since it is usually kids running the place and trying to get a manager that has a clue would have to be just short of an act of god. I doubt it was cc, since my daughter is not a person who reacts to cc. We just won't eat it anymore, even if the ingredients are "safe". We got bit twice and won't try it a third time. It always has a fake powdery buttery taste to it anyway thay I didn't care for much anyway.

[JillianLindsay]

I emailed re: my question and this is the response I received:

"Good afternoon,

Please note that I have checked with the buyer and the vendor on your request. They have informed me that the Great Value microwave popcorn does not have any wheat gluten in it however it does have natural corn gluten. Corn naturally has gluten. This product is safe to consume for anyone on a Gluten free diet.

Regards

Debbie

Customer Relations Administrator

Phone: 1-800-328-0402

cacustrel@wal-mart.com

Walmart Canada Corp.

1940 Argentia Road

Mississauga, Ontario L5N 1P9"

Corn gluten?? What is she talking about??

What about light butter flavour by Great Value brand (Wal-Mart Canada)? It lists natural and artificial flavours in the ingredients. Does anyone know if this is gluten-free? I can't find anything online. I've got such a craving and it's the only kind in the house right now!

Thanks

Jillian

[ravenwoodglass]

I emailed re: my question and this is the response I received:

"Good afternoon,

Please note that I have checked with the buyer and the vendor on your request. They have informed me that the Great Value microwave popcorn does not have any wheat gluten in it however it does have natural corn gluten. Corn naturally has gluten. This product is safe to consume for anyone on a Gluten free diet.

Regards

Debbie

Customer Relations Administrator

Phone: 1-800-328-0402

cacustrel@wal-mart.com

Walmart Canada Corp.

1940 Argentia Road

Mississauga, Ontario L5N 1P9"

Corn gluten?? What is she talking about??

Corn also has a gluten component but that is not a gluten that we are sensitive to. Corn gluten is safe, as long as you are not sensitive to corn. This confusion is why I always ask if an item contains wheat, rye, barley or oats or any of their chemical derivities rather than asking if something is gluten free.

[JillianLindsay]

Thanks I looked it up after receiving that email and found a bit of related info. As if explaining celiac disease isn't complicated enough already Well, at least I can enjoy my popcorn worry-free!

Corn also has a gluten component but that is not a gluten that we are sensitive to. Corn gluten is safe, as long as you are not sensitive to corn. This confusion is why I always ask if an item contains wheat, rye, barley or oats or any of their chemical derivities rather than asking if something is gluten free.

[Heidi S.]

I can not be much help in the theater popcorn or fair popcorn ally. I would worry about contamination with hands, not cleaning the machines, or the powder butter they use being bound with gluten in some way.

I did write pop weaver to inquire about their product in early august 2009:

Good afternoon Heidi and thank you for your email! Popcorn represents our company's only business and we take a great deal of pride in the products we produce and that leave our plant. We are very committed to bringing our customers the highest quality of popcorn at the most reasonable price and, we also want to produce products that meet the health concerns and needs of all of our customers. We continually search for ways to improve our products and always appreciate it when we hear from our customers! There is no wheat, barley, rye, or oats gluten in any of our Pop Weaver Popcorn products or in the raw material ingredients. Thank you again for your inquiry and we hope you will continue to enjoy Pop Weaver Popcorn products. Have a good day! Shelli

So this is what I buy and stick too, they have even tested for oats and only produce popcorn in their facility. Hope it helps!

[ang1e0251]

Sorry I didn't notice this thread to respond to before.

My family are fair concessionaires so I have been popping popcorn all my life. Just the way you described it. There is no gluten in the popcorn itself as others have pointed out. There is no gluten in popcorn salt. It is just salt that is ground extra fine so it distributes well. We used palm oil many years ago and it was also gluten free. There are new kinds of oils being used now and I don't know about them all because I no longer go out on the road. Different oils are used in different situations like theater vs. fair. My guess is there or toppings is where your culprit is. If you asked for butter topping in a theater, they pump it out of the butter heater. Who knows when the last time it was cleaned and sanitized? They are a pain to clean. Is the leftover topping refrigerated at night? It could have been slightly rancid. That might not bother other people, but we are extra sensitive.

In the first situation, she probably didn't have the oppurtunity to ask for a topping. But, even though we only used our poppers for regular popped popcorn always, there are a whole range of flavored toppings you can pop into your popcorn. As a vendor there might be times when you make different flavors for special events. I would bet a lot of those have gluten and another item very hard to clean perfectly is a popcorn popper. Of course you can never guess if the server has clean hands or cc has occurred from that.

I do not have a problem with popcorn. I used to get queasy from theater butter but after going gluten-free that's no longer a problem. I eat that so infrequently, I don't worry about it. I like popcorn at home but I'm getting really fed up with the prices. Almost $2.00 a bag when a 50# bag of popcorn is $16.00!! I'm planning on buying a microwave popper for $20 at Walmart and popping my own!

[CeliacJosie]

Honestly, I've never had a problem with microwave popcorn, but we don't eat it anyways. We have an oil popper which is amazing, instead. And the carnival and movie theatre popcorn isn't safe, they use wheat starch to make sure they don't stick to each other.

[psawyer]

And the carnival and movie theatre popcorn isn't safe, they use wheat starch to make sure they don't stick to each other.

Can you supply the source for this assertion, please. It contradicts everything we have ever heard here.

[JillianLindsay]

Last time I went to the movies (first time ordering popcorn since my dx) I talked to the manager. She got out the popcorn & butter boxes and read the ingredients with me. Then she washed her hands and served me my popcorn herself It was a positive experience and I definitely did not get glutened!

Most popcorns are fine, I think it's just a matter of watching out for cross-contamination. Wheat starch is a major allergen, so it would need to be listed on the ingredients if it were used.

Enjoy!