Water Cooler

(CBS) Ordering a medium popcorn and soda combo from a major national movie theater chain is the equivalent of eating three McDonald's Quarter Pounders with 12 pats of butter, according to a new study by the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

According to laboratory analysis conducted by the Center for Science and Public Interest (CSPI), the concessions from Regal, the country's biggest movie chain, have 1,160 calories and three days worth - 60 grams - of fat. Regal said that the medium popcorn had 720 calories and the large had 960, but CSPI's tests found those numbers to be understated. A small popcorn at Regal had 670 calories - the same as a Pizza Hut Personal Pepperoni Pan Pizza. Even if you share a small popcorn - it's still about a day's worth of saturated fat per person, according to CSPI.

"It's hard enough for Americans to maintain a healthy weight even when limiting their eating to breakfast, lunch, and dinner," said CSPI senior nutritionist Jayne Hurley. "Who realizes that they might be taking in a meal's worth of calories during a movie? Splitting a medium popcorn with two other people sounds like a reasonable thing to do, but who would think they're getting an entire day's worth of saturated fat?"

The study is published in December's Nutrition Action Healthletter, and updates research CSPI conducted 15 years ago.

George Dunn, the President and COO of Regal Entertainment Group, said that when CSPI released a similar study in 1994, Regal responded by offering healthier choices like air-popped popcorn, but that they weren't popular with customers.

"According to the most recent statistics from the Motion Picture Association of America, the average American attends six movies a year," Dunn said. "Theater popcorn and movie snacks are viewed as a treat and not intended to be part of a regular diet."

• CSPI's 10 Worst & Best Foods

AMC, the second-largest chain, had similar calorie and fat counts. Adding the butter-flavored oil topping piles on an additional 240 calories.
Cinemark, the third-largest chain pops their corn in heart-healthy, but similarly caloric, canola oil.

While Cinemark's popcorn had far less saturated fat - 2 grams- it had the highest amount of sodium, 1,500 milligrams, which is a day's allowance for most people. But at some Cinemark locations, the butter topping is made with real butter, adding 18 grams of saturated fat.

CSPI warns not to indulge in sodas or candy either. A 8-ounce bag of Reese's Pieces had 1,160 calories and 35 grams of saturated fat, making it comparable to eating a 16-ounce T-bone steak and a buttered baked potato.

"Sitting in the dark, absorbed by a movie, we pay no attention to what we're eating-and movie theater chains are offering only bad choices at bad prices," said Hurley. "The healthiest snack to buy at the movies is no snack at all."

Here's a look at the nutritional value of popcorn at your favorite theaters:

Regal is the largest movie chain in the United States and it pops it's popcorn in coconut oil, which is 90 percent saturated.

A small size, containing 11 cups of popcorn, is 670 calories and has 550 mg of sodium and 34 g of saturated fat. Add 1 pump of butter (or 1 tablespoon)and that is an additional 130 calories and 2 g of saturated fat.

A medium size, containing 20 cups of popcorn, is 1,200 calories and has 980 mg of sodium and 60 g of sat. fat. Add butter (1.5 tbs) and that's an additional 200 calories and 3 g sat fat.

A large size, also containing 20 cups of popcorn, has the same amount of calories, sodium, and sat fat as the medium size. Add butter (2 tbs) and that's an extra 260 calories and 4 g of sat fat.

AMC also pops it's popcorn in coconut oil.

A small size, containing 6 cups of popcorn, is 370 calories and has 210 mg of sodium and 20 g sat. fat. Add butter (1 tb) and that's an extra 120 calories and 2 g sat fat.

A medium size, containing 9 cups of popcorn, is 590 calories and has 330 mg of sodium and 33 g of sat. fat. Add butter (1.5 tbs) and that's an additional 180 calories and 3 g sat fat.

A large size, containing 16 cups of popcorn, is 1,030 calories and has 580 mg of sodium and 57 g of sat. fat. Add butter (2 tbs) and that's an additional 240 calories and 4 g sat fat.

Cinemark pops it in non-hydrogenated canola oil.

A small size, containing 8 cups of popcorn, is 420 calories and has 690 mg of sodium and 2 g sat. fat. Add butter (1 tb) and that's an extra 130 calories and 2 g sat fat.

A medium size, containing 14 cups of popcorn, is 760 calories and has 1,240 mg of sodium and 3 g of sat. fat. Add butter (1.5 tbs) and that's an additional 200 calories and 3 g sat fat.

A large size, containing 17 cups of popcorn, is 910 calories and has 1,500 mg of sodium and 4 g of sat. fat. Add butter (2 tbs) and that's an additional 260 calories and 5 g sat fat.

Here's a list of some of your favorite film foods along with calorie, sugar, and saturated fat counts.

Candy/Calories/Sugar/Sat.Fat

AirHeads Xtremes Sweetly Sour Belts (3 oz.) 300 45 0
Sour Jacks, Original (3.5 oz.) 300 48 0
Sour Patch, Watermelon (3.5 oz.) 370 64 0
Welch's Fruit Snacks, Mixed Fruit (4.1 oz.) 370 66 0
Jolly Rancher Gummies (4.5 oz.) 390 72 0
Twizzlers (5 oz.) 460 59 0
Sour Patch Kids (5 oz.) 490 92 0
SweeTarts (6 oz.) 680 136 0
Nerds (7 oz.) 790 185 0
AirHeads (3.3 oz.) 360 51 3
Skittles, Original (4 oz.) 450 87 4
Skittles, Sour (3.6 oz.) 420 75 5
Junior Caramels (4.3 oz.) 540 69 7
Skittles, Crazy Cores (7.2 oz.) 830 156 7
Milk Duds (3 oz.) 370 44 8
Junior Mints XL (4.8 oz.) 570 107 8
Cookie Dough Bites, Mint (3.1 oz.) 400 42 10
Sun-Maid Milk Chocolate Raisins (3.5 oz.) 430 63 10
Butterfinger Minis (3.5 oz.) 450 45 10
Sno-Caps (3.1 oz.) 400 53 11
Cookie Dough Bites, Original (3.1 oz.) 420 42 11
Raisinets (3.5 oz.) 420 60 11
M&M's, Milk Chocolate (3.4 oz.) 480 62 11
Buncha Crunch (3.2 oz.) 440 49 12
Goobers (3.5 oz.) 510 44 12
Whoppers (2.8 oz.) 350 48 13
M&M's, Peanut (5.3 oz.) 790 79 16
Reese's Pieces (4 oz.) 580 61 20
Reese's Pieces (8 oz.) 1,160 122 35



 

(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

• Go! New York For A Healthy Lifestyle
• Got Wit? Play CBS 2's Caption Game!
• 20 Questions
• Celebrities On Twitter
• Celebrity Real Names Revealed
• When It Was Out To Be Out
• Hilarious Movie Blunders
• World's Coolest Fighter Jets