Popcorn at the Movies

[Tammy]

Regina keeps bugging me to ask you this question. I know it's been brought up before, but I'm too lazy right now to go back and look for it.

So.... Do you eat popcorn, and do you eat the popcorn at movie theaters? What about the "butter" they put on it if requested?

I'm thinking some of you do, but I'm always leary of anything we haven't had before. I always sneak some kind of pretzel or snack into the theater for her, but she really wants to try it.

She also knows it's because of all of you that she now eats peanuts and olives, so she keeps bugging me to ask you. Guess she figures that's the only way I'll ever let her try it. And she's probably right.........

[colormist]

I eat popcorn at the theater. I get the "butter" on it. Sometimes, if I eat a lot of it (anything more than a small bag), it makes me queasy, but popcorn does that anyway. I don't associate it with HFI, but that doesn't mean that it isn't an HFI reaction. The queasiness might also be salt overload.

EDIT: Now that I think of it, I wonder what's in the salt they use--especially since we now know there's sweeteners in salt.

[sarahk]

Mike here:
This year has just been crazy for us--that's why there haven't been many posts. But it is settling down, a bit...until Nov---Sarah is pregos again Baby girl! Since Ethan and I are HFI free, we are betting this one will be too....but we'll run the tests to be safe.

As for popcorn....sarah use to eat popcorn in the movies, and only stopped b/c we had a baby and have seen +/- 3 movies in the theater in 2 years

She never had problems with movie theature popcorn--we don't get butter on it.

But there have been times when she did NOT want popcorn at home.

[Tammy]

Regina is very excited now. I told her she can try popcorn next time we're at the movies. Guess I should have waited to tell her, because now all she asks is when we can go to the movies. lol.

Mike, congrats to you and Sarah!!!! How exciting! Little girls are soooooooooooo nice.

[charlie]

I make our own popcorn, it only really takes a few minutes and then shake salt over it. Haven't tried the butter idea, will do that next time as the only minus is they are a bit dry as they are.

One worry I have with ready made, especially at the cinema is the possibility of contamination with sugar as it is usually served from adjacent counters.

[julienc]

Congratulations Mike and Sarah! Exciting news!!!

Tammy, I also eat popcorn without trouble. It's definitely not one of those snacks I crave, though. I could take it or leave it. I rarely get it at the theaters, and when I do, I usually do not have butter. Regina will have fun!

[Tammy]

Horray Horray Horray.

I finally got up the nerve and Regina had popcorn -plain- last Wednesday. It's been almost a week, so that puts us in the clear!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm not sure she really liked the popcorn itself, but she LOVES the idea of popcorn at the movies. lol.

Next up - tracking down what's in the butter flavoring they use at our local theater.......

Thanks again. You guys are the only reason she got to try it.

[meaniejean]

So excited for Regina!!!

[julienc]

That's great Tammy!!!

[CJSculpts]

Be careful with pre-made popcorn. I am not one to spend a ton of time in the snack aisle of a grocery store. Before my semi-diagnosis, I used to eat mostly fresh fruits, veggies, etc. During my first visit back to Whole Foods after my positive breath test, I decided that I would need to have some easy to grab snack on hand. I loooooooove popcorn so imagine my surprise when I discovered that there was only one brand of pre-made popcorn at Whole Foods that was safe. The others had thing like corn syrup solids. If that is the case with brands sold at WF, I can only imagine what is in the theater popcorn. : (

[colormist]

Corn Syrup Solids are still up in the air as far as being a safe food. Sometimes the manufacturer is referring to high fructose corn syrup solids and sometimes they're referring to something more like a powdery thickening agent--I guess like corn starch? I'm not sure exactly. One appears to be mostly safe, one's definitely not.

[CJSculpts]

Hmmmm....Do you ever contact the food manufacturers on stuff like this??? One ingredient that seems to be super confusing is "rice flour." I have seen many products that list "brown rice flour" which I think would be out but a ton of products list just "rice flour" and no one at Whole Foods could tell me if this was potentially brown rice. I was thinking of calling some of the manufacturers. I used have all of my shopping pretty figured out. The last month has been so funny because every time I go to WF I have stock boys running around like crazy trying to find the right products. They actually seem to enjoy the challenge an the break from their standard work routine but it does tend to look like a circus. I am going to drive the world nuts into I figure this out.

[colormist]

I think Tammy has contacted the food manufacturers before. I'm more of a "read, sniff, lick, try it to see if I get a reaction" type of person.

(Please correct me if I'm wrong, Tammy!)

[Tammy]

I have contacted some manufacturers. Most try to be helpful, and some are. But then I've run into some that just don't get the whole thing. The ones that turn out to be helpful are the ones that pass me around until they find someone who can actually help.

Mostly, though, I just go with ingredient lists, pass info, common sense, and the general consensus on here. If the "tried and true" on here can tolerate something, Regina is good, too.

[charlie]

Its always worth trying to contact the manufacturers, I have regularly emailed queries to websites and every single one has so far replied, not always accurately but has cleared up a few queries.

[CJSculpts]

I am trying my best not to use myself as the "dipstick" for acceptability of foods. I have been almost useless this entire week after that Bloomsdale Spinach salad episode. : P

The reason that I have so many food questions (besides being a total foodie) is the the logical/scientific half of my brain starts to through a tantrum without the answers. I had a very enlightening meeting with my nutritionist on Thursday. She said that the reason that corn flour and popcorn are okay when corn is not is that, the longer the corn is off of the plant, the more the sugars naturally convert to starches. Obviously the dehydrating process takes this to the extreme. This also answers the old potato vs new potato question.

[CJSculpts]

I have always been a big fan of heirloom varieties - more actual flavor, less watery faux sugar induced flavor. Ewwww I cannot IMAGINE eating corn called "Peaches & Cream"!! And, even if I tried, I wouldn't be able to get the thought of strippers out of my head. It is sort of a running joke in our house that all strippers smell like peaches & cream so anytime anything smells close...hysterical laughter ensues.