If you’re one of those people who munches on movie popcorn and placates yourself by rationalizing that as snacks go, it’s not all that bad for you, you’re just deluding yourself.
The L.A. Times cites a Center for Science in the Public Interest report that analyzes the waistline-expanding abilities of buttered-up, movie theater pocorn at the largest movie chains: Regal, AMC and Cinemark. Just how bad for you is it? Reporter Mary MacVean writes:
A medium-sized popcorn and medium soda at the nation’s largest movie chain pack the nutritional equivalent of three Quarter Pounders topped with 12 pats of butter, according to a report released today by the advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest.
The group’s second look at movie theater concessions — the last was 15 years ago — found little had changed in a decade and a half, despite theaters’ attempts to reformulate.
You wouldn’t wolf down three quarter pounders and 12 pats of butter in one sitting at a movie, so it’s probably a good idea to think twice about inhaling that medium popcorn.
Movie popcorn still a nutritional horror, study finds [L.A. Times via Movie City News]
(Photo: Great Beyond)
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The only change in a decade and a half has been PRICE!
@bloggerX: Price isn’t the only change. I stopped buying theater popcorn when I started seeing them carrying in the big plastic bags of popcorn and emptying them into the popper. I’ll only buy the popcorn now if I can see that popper popping!
I go to the movies maybe twice a year, and BY GOD I WANT MY ARTERIES MORE CLOGGED when I leave than they were when I arrived!
@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): We’ve only been to the movie theater five or six times this year, and most of the time we don’t get popcorn. But AMC gives us coupons for free popcorn once in a while and we just go nuts when we get those. It’s because of the price. Both of us can share a small and be perfectly happy. But the cost of that small popcorn is so ridiculous we wait for the coupons.
@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): I get mine with extra ‘butter’. I know it’s horrible for me, but if you only eat it a few times a year, it’s not going to cause you to spontaneously combust or anything.
@kalaratri: I usually get whatever kids’ pack they have (tiny popcorn and soda, and usually a package of candy), get diet soda, give the candy to Mr. H3llc4t, and just douse that popcorn in butter. I generally can’t eat the whole thing and we only go to the movies 2-3 times a year so it works out.
@h3llc4t, breaker of office dress codes: I am a huge fan of the kiddie pack.
@h3llc4t, breaker of office dress codes: I get the kids pack because it’s cheaper and I can’t EAT all that popcorn!
I usually eat all the candy too.
@kalaratri: Even if it did cause me to spontaneously combust? TOTALLY WORTH IT!
@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): Just think about it. If you were to spontaneously combust, just carry a packet of kernals with you at all times, and then everyone around you would get popcorn when you go kapoof!
@pecan 3.14159265: This comment is full of pure awesomeness. I just wonder, who would actually eat the popcorn. Would it be akin to cannibalism?
@subtlefrog: I actually did think about this. Since you don’t explode, you burn, as long as people were fast with their bowls, they could catch all the popped kernals before you were reduced to ash. No one likes ashy popcorn.
Of course, if you were to carry a lot of butter and salt as well, you could possibly turn yourself into buttery salted ash – in that case, it would be cannibalism. But we approach a grey area if you carry butter and bacon salt.
@pecan 3.14159265: And this, Ms. 3.14159265, is why YOU have a star. And if you didn’t, I would think nothing was right with the world.
@kalaratri: When I used to work at a movie theater, I could not understand the people who would get a medium popcorn for themselves and then ask me to drown it in butter. People would get so much butter that the bottom of the bag would get greasy.
@Toffeecake: You can only fit so much popcorn in your stomach, and the whole point of popcorn is as a butter delivery system!
@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): I am intrigued by your thoughts and would like to subscribe to your newsletter…
@kalaratri: I hear you can go over 7,000 miles between oil changes if you get the extra butter.
@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): I go to movies very rarely, so when I do, I definitely treat myself to a large popcorn. And I make them scoop it straight out of the popper- I don’t want the stuff that’s been sitting in the warmer all day!
Absolutely! I worked for Litchfield Company of SC and Regal Entertainment Group for years. They used the cheapest oil, coconut, which is hard as a rock when we get it. We had to melt it first in the metal drum it comes in using heaters. It is colored yellow to make the popcorn look better. I tried complaining to the head office of both companies and was ignored. This stuff is deadly. DO NOT EAT THEATER POPCORN unless you KNOW it is not popped in coconut oil. The “buttery topping” is nothing but more oil flavored with artificial butter flavoring.
@savdavid: Coconut oil is good for you when in liquid form.
I always just get popcorn plain. Still not good for you, but better than drowning it in “butter topping.”
@diasdiem: Yeah…the issue here isn’t popcorn, it’s the crap people put on it. The delicious, delicious crap. But the Center for Science in the Public Interest is always overdramatic and full of crap. Yes, we KNOW that oily mess you pump onto your popcorn is awful. How about you tell us if PLAIN popcorn is really bad for you, or popcorn with a little flavoring salt? Yeah, didn’t think so, drama queens.
Uhmmmm…I hate to burst your bubble but coconut oil is good for you..
@diasdiem: Well it is better than eating it drowned in the butter but I know when I worked at a movie theater we popped it in “butter salt” which was pretty much the “butter” in a powdery form. So chances are the popcorn has some form of the butter on it when it pops.
@diasdiem: Doesn’t popcorn need some kind of oil to heat properly to a pop?
@Applekid: My mom’s air-popper must work using magic and happy thoughts then.
@Applekid: Nope. My parents have an air popper, no oil required.
@Applekid: No, popping corn can be popped with hot air. In high school, my jewelry teacher had an air-popper that made great popcorn. Of course, it was even tastier when someone brought in butter for the “dispenser” that melted the butter onto the popcorn as it came out of the machine.
@diasdiem: I worked at a movie theater in high school, long time ago. At least back then, the “buttery” topping was healthier than the popcorn itself. It’s the oil that the popcorn is cooked in that makes it so bad. We used to laugh at people who thought they were being health by ordering a plain pop corn and diet soda.
@redrolla: Skipping the topping or ordering a diet soda, or getting a burger without mayonnaise isn’t really so much about being healthy as it is about damage control.
I do not like movie theater popcorn. It makes my mouth burn. I sneak in hard candy in my purse. That way, I still have food after the previews are over. Um…I mean, of course I don’t bring in my own food. I would NEVER do that!
@Kuchen: If you sneak food into a theater, then you are stealing. Period.
@LeChiffre: Like salt and vinegar chips, it actually HURTS after awhile. Does no one else experience this?
@eccsame: I can totally see how it’s not allowed. I don’t see how it’s stealing.
@Kuchen: Movie popcorn causes my lips to swell. I think it’s all the salt in there. I don’t eat that stuff anymore.
@Kuchen: I have that problem with hot french fries sometimes or with tomatoes depending on what I’m eating but I’ve never gotten it with popcorn.
I think it’s either because I don’t add the flavored salt or because I never get any hot enough for it to be an issue.
It makes sense that it would happen with salt and vinegar though. Any combo of hot, acid-y, and salty.
@eccsame: Huh? You’re breaking the rules, if that’s their rules, but it’s hardly stealing if the food you bring isn’t food they sell. It’s not like you’re required to eat and you’d be eating their food if you didn’t have yours.
@eccsame: Really? And how do you figure that?
@eccsame: Is it stealing if i bring in a flask of whiskey and pour some into my coke while i enjoy the movie?
@skizsrodt: Only if they sell booze in the theater. Okay, maybe it isn’t “stealing” – but the theaters do make the majority of their money from concessions, since ticket sales barely cover the cost of renting a film for the theater.
Let’s put it another way – would you go to a restaurant and, if asked if you wanted to buy a salad with your meal say “no, thanks – I brought my own salad”. No, of course not. Why is a theater any different? Only because you can “sneak” food in without anyone knowing.
@eccsame: It’s not really the same thing. A restaurant’s only business is selling food, so by bringing in your own you are truly depriving them of a paying customer that could be at that table. I go to the movie theater to see movies, which I pay for. I don’t ever buy movie theater food because it’s so ridiculously overpriced. Would the theater rather have me come but not buy food or not come at all? I’m pretty sure they still want to sell that ticket.
@eccsame: I’m not stealing – I wouldn’t buy their overpriced crap even if I was starving. So unless it’s mandatory to buy their food, F’ em! Besides, I get better snacks – stuff I actually want – that way instead of dried out peanut butter cups.
Theater Hopping – now THAT’S stealing. But that’s another topic for another time. . . .
@Kuchen: Are you 90 years old?
@outlulz: Are you 90 years old?
I have an old soul. My souls enjoys Werther’s, and eats dinner at 4:30.
So what. Let’s remind ourselves that nothing is too bad in moderation.
@Scoobatz:
I think the point is the lack of labeling. If it’s labeled with health information, then yeah, so what? But, it’s not. MYSTERY foooood!
How many burgers and pats of butter is it if I get the popcorn with a diet soda?
That’s a lot of popcorn… I can usually, at best, eat 2/3 of a small size. I can’t imagine eating an entire tub myself.
@JRock: I get the kid’s pack without butter whenever I go and actually want popcorn. My ex-Regal employee boyfriend says it’s probably the best deal there, and I couldn’t even think about finishing a small popcorn.
I go to the movies probably 4 times a year and by God I want a large popcorn. Yes it costs $26 and will clog my arteries, but I don’t care. If I went once a week, that would be cause for concern.
I don’t eat movie popcorn.. I breathe it in.. it smells so good.. and that is enough for me.
Now, if they come out with a story about the sausagey goodness that is the AMC Hotdog.. I might have something to worry about.
Dammit.. now I want a sausage hotdog.
@Kimaroo – Fortified with Kittydus Purrularis: Mmm hot dogs. Crap. Now I want a hot dog too. And I have no cash and the street carts don’t take IOUs or drawings of spiders.
@pecan 3.14159265: Try a drawing of a dog.. “I’ll trade you my dog for yours”
It could work.
But if I don’t get the popcorn, what will I get to go with my jumbo Coke Icee?
I mean, I will be all unbalanced with a free hand and that’s unnatural! Not to mention the uncomfortable stares from the other patrons. (Shhh! Honey, don’t look at the poor man who can only afford one concession! Yeah — I live in that tough of a town.)
Can I get those figures in Libraries of Congress, please?
Our theater serves booze too. So I can drink to excess while enjoying my delicious deadly popcorn. They also allow you to put as much “butter” and salt on as you want, all by your own decision-making self.
And that’s the way it should be.
@stanner: We live near one with a full kitchen inside it as well as a bar. I spent my last birthday watching a zombie movie on the big screen with a margarita in one hand and a cheeseburger in the other. I cannot fully describe the bliss.
@h3llc4t, breaker of office dress codes:
This. THIS !!!! Why do we not have this in Canada ? Well, near me anyway.
I’m surprised that the tight-arses out there haven’t complained about how the kiddies might be exposed to it or something.
@stanner: My favorite theatre in Oakland served beer wine and food, by my favorite, favorite theatre in Bangkok serves mixed drinks and sushi.
God I hate connecticut.
Going to the movies and eating a large popcorn (and sneaking out for a free refill) is part of my retirement savings plan. I need to die at age 67 before my retirement savings runs out.
dammit, now I want three cheeseburgers and 12 pats of butter. Thanks.
CSPI has been engaged in a war against movie popcorn for many years. There’s nothing new here, and not even from them … they’ve issued the same findings several times since the early 2000s.
That’s not to say the stuff is healthy after all. I never get movie popcorn … never. And I don’t even nibble on it if I’m with someone who buys it and I’m offered some.
All I’m saying is that this is NOT “news.” Not by any stretch of the imagination.
That said, there are reasons why people like high-fat foods like this (i.e. human beings are hard-wired to like it in preference to other stuff) and there are reasons the theaters continue to use coconut oil (i.e. it’s cheap). Perhaps CSPI would be better off advocating changes that actually help rather than just continuing to rail about theaters selling this stuff and people buying it. It’s great for the “fat police” to tell people they should eat rocks and twigs instead, and to tell the theaters to sell them rocks and twigs … but the fact is that people don’t like rocks and twigs, they will not willingly eat rocks and twigs, and that means theaters will never make money selling rocks and twigs.
In other words, it’s time for CSPI and similar outfits to stop putting the cart before the horse, and offer useful solutions, rather than just doing what they’ve always done, which is to whine and complain and issue press-releases full of sanctimonious outrage just because people eat what they want to eat and theaters dare sell it to them.
That sounds like a challenge. I raise you three strips of bacon and a fried egg.
@Applekid: You, sir, have just invented Burger King’s next incarnation of the Whopper. (Complete with popcorn between patties.)
I like my popcorn like I like my women…plain, salty, and corny.
What I don’t understand is HOW it can be this bad. It’s puffed corn!
Oh, for Pete’s sake! This “study” again? I love how the article is so data-lite and yet so terrifyingly dire. BOOGAH! BOOGAH! BOOGAH!
It doesn’t even say what constitutes a “medium” or if that popcorn is soaked in the melted Tupperware they call butter flavoring. And what one person eats an entire tub of that crap on their own?
Am I the only loser who is unsure what a “pat” of butter is?
@lukesdad: About a teaspoon, I think.
@lukesdad: i don’t know why but i laughed so hard at this, i almost spit out my peppermint. haha.
i’m thinking a “pat” is like a slice, like they serve at a cafeteria that you’d eat at with your grandmother.
@kairi2: So it’s like a “pinch” or a “smidge.”
Incidentally, the latest set of measuring spoons I bought have a tiny spoon that says “just a pinch.” Really?
HA! Who cares how many calories are in a bag of damned popcorn and a soda! If there is anything to scream about it is the cost of these calorie packing horrors! Our local multiplex recently went to 8 dollars for a large popcorn and 5 dollars for a large drink. 1 dollar per refill. That’s 18$ for me and the wife to eat popcorn with our 17$ night time tickets. A cost of 35$!! FORGET THAT! We now make it a point to eat out someplace nice and then go to the movies, if we go at all. The food is by far taster and better for you!
It’s by far cheaper to rent the movie when it comes out. Go over to our friends house that has a 52 inch HD and order in. We split the cost of 2 large BOGO pizzas at about 5$ per couple (six people), Cost or renting the DVD 5$ We do this two times a month with movies that we all deem, ‘A waste of money to go see in the theater, but we will rent it when it comes out on DVD.’ Total cost for this night 20$, a savings of over 80$. It is not like we have a whole lot of extra money laying around that we can go see movies like we used to. We are all working but we’ve had to cut back on spending due to job cuts and such. First thing to go, Movie nights.
>You wouldn’t wolf down three quarter pounders and 12 pats of butter in one sitting at a movie
Speak for yourself!
“It found that a Regal medium popcorn — 20 cups — contains 1,200 calories, 60 grams of saturated fat, and 980 milligrams of sodium. That’s without the buttery topping that can be drizzled — or poured — on the popcorn, which adds another 200 calories and 3 grams of saturated fat per 1.5 tablespoons.”
So where do all the calories and fat come from if they’re saying that this is before the butter is added?
@Scatter: They basically fry it in coconut oil first, then add the fake butter flavor
There’s a movie theatre here that serves it’s popcorn with real honest to god melted butter instead of “Golden Flavoring”…when I go there I get a large Popcorn and a Large freshly squeezed Lemonade….mmmm
The Center for Science in the Public Interests are just professional killjoys. While I’m sure that the popcorn at movie theaters isn’t health food, I don’t think a bag or two a couple times a year is going to kill you. CSPI is always kicking out stories on how this or that is going to kill you. Their Christmas/Holiday party must really be a blast!
Ok, I will say what no one else here seems to be pointing out – the fact is, movie theater popcorn tastes like a bucket of crumpled week-old newspaper, glazed in salty vaseline. Why would anyone eat that nasty stuff?
Now real popcorn, air-popped and drenched in far more than 12 pats of butter – that is something worth clogging your arteries for!
Medium????? I wolf down the large!!! I don’t do it very often, and I often skip dinner to do it, but I need me the popcorn at the theater…
I never get my popcorn buttered. That stuff is nasty. The theaters near me us Canola oil (which I use at home), so it’s not so bad.
What I think is funny is the people that get the giant buttered popcorn… with the Diet Coke. And come back for free refills on the popcorn.
@SacraBos: This isn’t (mostly) directed at you, but I’m tired of everyone trotting out this “irony” every time any one is talking about fattening foods.
No one ever stops to consider that maybe the reason the person is ordering the Diet Coke is not be “healthy”, but because they don’t want the sugar.
I drink diet almost exclusively, and not because I’m dieting, but because I consider regular soda to be empty calories. Those 3 cheeseburgers and 12 pats of butter that we’re calling movie theatre popcorn? Totally not empty – it’s worth every last artery hardening calorie.
Like others have said – I go to the movies maybe 3 times a year, and you can have my medium-large butter-flavoring topped popcorn when I’m dead of a heart attack. Which won’t happen because I have excellent genes and an HDL # that may be a world’s record.
“Butter my popcorn” is how the missus and I talk about naughty things in front of the kids.
Meh, whatever.
Getting popcorn from the farmer’s market is better anyway
I pop at home (with my whirly-pop!) and coconut oil makes, by far, the best tasting popcorn. This is one place where I dig my heels in.
“You wouldn’t wolf down three quarter pounders and 12 pats of butter in one sitting at a movie“
So what you’re saying is, I can finally stop feeling guilty for wolfing down three quarter pounders while watching a movie in a theater??
Because, you know…. at least it doesn’t have those 12 pats of butter, am I right?
Errmm consumerist… it says it’s the nutritional value of 3 quarter-pounders with 12 pats of butter, it’s not the same amount of food as it though.
For those of you who want to keep indulging in “movie” popcorn without the gilt, track down a bag of the all-natural “movie theater” popcorn by the Popcorn Indiana company: [www.popcornindiana.com]
No coconut or hydrogenated oil or artificial additives – only popcorn, clarified butter, and canola oil.
It tastes like the real thing, but better. (In fact, I’m inhaling a large bag of it right now.)
Um…
This is misleading AT BEST.
It’s not the popcorn that is really, really bad for you, it’s all the SHIT you put on it and eat WITH it.
12 pats of butter, Salt, Medium soda.
Just be smart people. Or rather than ‘smart’ be conscious of your food decisions.
- Bring a water bottle (or if the movie-nazis protest, buy one of theirs) and refill it.
- Bring a piece of fruit. Or again if attacked by the movie-gestapo, buy popcorn but insist it be plain.
Da na! Now you’re assured a long bland tasteless existance.
@2 replies by: My thoughts exactly. At our theater we only put about a tablespoon of salt in per batch (can’t remember how much each batch is at the moment), or you can request to have non-salted popcorn made. As far as the rest of the stuff that goes on it is self-served, so the customers are the ones who put it on. You can get a small popcorn fall all it matters, but if you glug on a lb of the butter (or oily topping) and bury it in salt then statistics they showed for the medium popcorn can apply to the small as well.
Movie Theatre popcorn like many other snacks consumed in moderation are not really all that bad. After all, it should be considered a treat like a Hot Fudge Sunday, not a daily staple.
Years ago when this story had it’s first go-around, many local theatres here in NJ started popping in canola oil. The owner of one, not liking the taste, went back to coconut oil, and posted on the menu board “Proudly Popped In Coconut Oil”. I was told his popcorn sales when up by almost 30%.
Wait, when did theaters start popping on premises again? They always try to sneak it out of plastic bags from a factory when they think no one is looking.
That isn’t always an indicator that it isn’t popped on the premises. I worked at a theater many years ago (a GCC in So Cal) and while we popped on the premises, it was at a location upstairs and not near the concession stand. The popper would put the freshly made corn into plastic bags to bring down to concessions. Still not as good as freshly popped before your eyes, but better than shipped in from random factory.
When I worked in the movie theaters in the late 80′s we used canola oil for the popping.
The ‘butter’ (or ‘satan’s own piss’ as we used to call it) was what ever was left of butter after you removed everything that would make it go bad if it sat out at room temperature for 90 days.
It had the consistency of paste when cool, and came in 5 gallon plastic containers. It was sometimes hard to tell where the substance stopped and the plastic started.
Anyone who can go through an entire tub at a movie probably just finished 3 quarter pounders with 12 pats of butter prior to the show. Most of the popcorn tubs left after the show were better than 75% full.
12 pats of butter is 3 kilograms or over 6.5 pounds. The fact that under 1 pound of popcorn has as much nutritional value as three high-protein burgers and 6.5 pounds of fat is simply amazing.
We were in Sam’s Club one day, and happened to notice they had gallon jugs of popcorn “butter” like what they use at the theaters. Out of curiosity, I checked out the nutrition label. I don’t remember specifics, but along the lines of 88% of your daily fat and 120% of your daily sodium, per TABLESPOON. Holy frijoles!
i bring my own popcorn from homw.
Who Drinks Soda… I just have good old water… so how does that reduce my cal intake for this!
Regular soda is usually around 100 calories per 8 oz cup. I would imagine the soda they’re talking about is probably 3 or 4 cups.
The medium popcorn in their study is 20 cups! Who can eat that much? I’m not surprised it was 1200 calories before the butter. That’s not too bad if you eat a reasonable amount.
@Spider Jerusalem: You should read up on coconut oil. Not only is it extremely cheap, but it can last 2 or 3 years without going rancid like other oils.
@Spider Jerusalem: Nope. It’s cheaper by the 50-pound can, just like savdavid said. It’s been at least 17 years since I worked in movie theaters, but that was the preferred oil. I remember when I learned just how saturated coconut oil was, telling my parents that sticking to the popcorn when they’d go to a movie was NOT going to do them any favors. It did make for a pretty good flavor when popped, though.
@Spider Jerusalem: I buy coconut oil specifically to pop my popcorn at home. It’s delicious. And I’d rather have a natural saturated fat than a poly-unsaturated hydrogenated fat.
@pecan 3.14159265: Actually I do smoke about one pack of year. I’ve never gotten addicted to them and I enjoy a smoke once in a while. A doctor told me, big deal if I smoke a couple a month, it’s not going to hurt me any more than the many thing we do to ourselves everyday. The whole point behind not smoking is the fact that people are smoking 3 packs a day. Smoking was never intended to be a 3 pack a day habit. Back in the smoking was only for “after dinner” and other special occasions. But I also swim 30 laps once a week, do aerobics at least once a week and do weights. This country is way too obsessed with every little news story and study about something like “popcorn being bad”. It’s about moderation and balance.
@Rey: I understand its more stable, but its also being used on a daily basis en masse. Vegetable-based oils don’t go bad overnight (well, not most of the normal ones, the ones appropriate for frying). You can buy several hundred gallons and use them by their sell-by date.
@pecan 3.14159265: “Mi perro para su perro” should do the trick.
@Applekid: That’s why the butter! Boom!
@Narockstar: …you realize thats an oxymoron right? You could pop in peanut or sunflower oil and it would be mono- or poly-unsaturated, NOT break down during the process, and not by any stretch of the imagination be considered hydrogenated?
@DangerMouth: Yeah, pouring a stick and a half of melted butter on it kinda defeats the purpose of air-popping. I kinda like popping it on the stove.
@JennQPublic: I found that one and a half times the normal amount is sufficient, I’d catch the other half of the oil in a cup.
…but doing this makes the suits mad because it “eats into the profits”.
@Applekid: I worked for Regal and I thought the Coconut oil was gross. I’ve since found out that the Coconut oil that CSPI demonized is very healthy without the hydrogenated topping. Further, the corn oil that we switched to made the poppers gummy and hard to clean.
Distrust anything the CSPI says. It’s their fault that the healthy coconut oil was replaced. Skip the gross topping. Besides that, CSPI is just all about guilt.
@Applekid: At home I have tested various oils for popping. I have found that grape seed oil is the tastiest. Peanut oil is pretty good as well. While hazelnut oil does provide a good taste the smoke point really doesn’t lend itself to a lot of kernels popped. With it you tend to get a lot of burnt and unpopped kernels.
In general at home try oils with a similar smoke point as peanut and you will pretty good flavors.
@Kimaroo – Fortified with Kittydus Purrularis: NOT THE STAPLES! Just kidding. It works for me.
@diasdiem: But you are then admitting that you like them cooked in oil until they explode? Now THAT’S kinky.
@Toffeecake: [www.movietavern.com]
Why they chose to build one in the suburbs of Columbus, I don’t know. I do not questions these gifts that have been bequeathed upon me. Movie Tavern also regularly runs older movies; they’re showing Ghostbusters in late December (!!!!).
@SagarikaLumos: Coconut oil has a lower melting point (90 something degrees) than corn oil. Thus the ‘gummy’ you experienced.
Besides that, I’ve NEVER seen the kids at the theaters clean the poppers worth a damn be it coconut or corn oil. Even when the theater has dedicated janitors that clean concessions, it’s still 1/2-assed.
The only reason theaters pass health inspections is because they spend 3 days cleaning everything before the inspector gets there…I wont even discuss the bribery I’ve witnessed.
If you make a little effort it comes clean, but you actually have to *try* when you clean concessions.
@Narockstar:
Also, isn’t the point of hydrogenation to make fats less unsaturated?
Granted the process is imperfect- if it wasn’t we wouldn’t have trans fats to worry about- but that is the idea.
@h3llc4t, breaker of office dress codes: You’re ok, I don’t like chili dogs. I like regular hotdogs swimming in meltey cheese like velveta, or if I have to have a regular hotdog without cheese I likek them with mayo. But I can eat a sausage hotdog any day of the week without anything else on it.
Today for lunch I’m having a cressant with egg, cheese, and sausage that I got from a local donut shop this morning.
Clearly I love sausage and should weigh 300 pounds. LOL
@zentex:
All true, but concessions is the only thing theater owners make profit from. Box office proceeds go to the film distributors.
Smoking was never intended to be a 3 pack a day habit.
@LeChiffre: ROTFLMAO
It’s about moderation and balance.
That still doesn’t make the story BS. It’d be BS if it wasn’t true.
@Spider Jerusalem: I think the theater near me might has reasonable sizes but that may be because it’s not a huge chain.
@zentex: I have to say that that was NOT true for the one where I worked (not open anymore) in 1994-96. It was very clean, especially the poppers. There were NO insects or rats, either. I was often there until 1:45 at night cleaning the concessions. A movie theater concession stand is a complicated place with lots of nooks and crannies both in the machines and cabinets. It will rapidly REEK of rancid grease in the lobby area if it isn’t pretty clean every single day (my nearest theater, for example). We usually got a 95 or 96 while I was there, though we would sometimes get docked because employees had been drinking in the prep areas. I understand why that is a problem but I can’t even now justify telling employees not to drink.
I’ll freely admit that the popcorn isn’t “good” for you. When I worked there, I would sometimes double up on the salt. Noone really tracked the rate of salt use, but customers acted like dope fiends about refills and buying more when it was salty. That said, there are far worse things, some of which don’t even taste as good.
They switched from coconut to corn oil probably in spring of 1996. If they’ve since switched back, then good for them. The popcorn tasted better with coconut and stayed crisp longer, too. Melting the waxy oil down was a pain, but not really much worse than anything else.
@LeChiffre: ‘Smoking was never intended to be a 3 pack a day habit. Back in the smoking was only for “after dinner” and other special occasions.’
*headdesk* Maybe that’s what the advertisements told you, but smoking has NEVER been a dessert.
As soon as it became a business, it was intended to be an “anytime” thing. No business ever openly says to enjoy their product sparingly with the exception of federally-mandated warning labels.
@nakkypoo: Man I hope so, anyway!