Act2 popcorn is a brand that stopped popcorn from being a snack exclusive to movie theatres. Simple, easy, and delicious, and with hardly any strong rivals, they command about 90% of the home popcorn market. Though they started with ready-to-cook popcorns, they have recently forayed into ready-to-eat popcorns in flavors like caramel, white cheddar, cream, cheese, etc which are gaining popularity among Indians. After who wouldn’t like to munch on popcorn while watching their favorite flicks on OTT platforms?
So, let us take a look at the most popular Act2 popcorn flavors available in India and their calorie profile.
Ready-To-Cook Act2 Popcorn Flavours
Ready-to-cook act2 popcorns come in two categories- microwave popcorn and cooker popcorn. Microwave popcorn can be made by removing the overwrap and listening to the popcorn till it stops popping. At that point, you can switch it off and take out the popcorn ready to relish. To make popcorn in a pressure cooker, simply add the content and cover it with a lid in such a way that you leave some gap for the steam to escape. Usually, after 2-3 minutes, the popping slows down to 1-2 seconds between pops. You can then switch off the stove and transfer the popcorn to a bowl to enjoy!
Classic Salted
Classic salted is the most common flavor that is simple, yet appetizing. Its ingredients are popping corn, refined palm oil, and iodized oil. It is comparatively the least processed. However, it is not exactly a low-calorie snack as 100 gm of it has 520 Kcal. It contains 61 gm of carbohydrates, 5 gm of protein, 28 gm of fat and 1 gm of sodium. Out of this, 11 gm is dietary fibre. Out of the fat, 13 gm is saturated fatty acid and 15 gm is unsaturated fatty acid. Saturated fatty acids, as you may know, are unhealthy like transfat and can lead to heart diseases and other health problems.
Butter Delite
Though you expect Butter Delite flavour to have butter in it, that is unfortunately not the case. The ingredient list shows that to impart a buttery appearance, beta-carotene is added which imparts orange colour to the popcorn. The other ingredients are popping corn, refined palm oil and salt.
It has comparatively more calories than classic salted with 602 KCal per 100 gm of popcorn. The carbohydrate content is 46 gm, out of which 6 gm is dietary fibre. Further, it has 9 gm protein, 1 gm sodium, and 42 gm fat, out of which 18 gm is saturated fat and 24 gm is unsaturated fat.
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Cheese
Cheese-flavored popcorn has 540 KCal per 100 gm with 8 gm protein, 58 gm carbohydrates, out of which 8 gm is dietary fibre, 31 gm fat, out of which 14 gm is saturated fatty acid and 17 gm is unsaturated. The ingredients are popping corn, refined palm oil, salt, processed cheddar cheese powder, and maltodextrin.
Golden Sizzle
Golden Sizzle and Buttery Delite have the same ingredients and are devoid of butter. 100 gm of Golden Sizzle popcorn has 510 Kcal. It contains 55 gm of carbohydrates, out of which 10 gm is dietary fibre, 8 gm of protein, and 29 gm of fat, out of which 13 gm is saturated fat and 16 gm is unsaturated fat. The sodium content is higher at 1.5 gm.
Chilly Surprise
In addition to salt, Chilly Surprise contains spices and condiments which add to the flavour. Its nutritional profile states 100 gm to contain 59 gm carbohydrates, out of which 12 gm is dietary fibre, 6 gm of protein and 30 gm of fat, out of which 16 gm is saturated, which is bad for your health.
Peri Peri
Peri Peri seasoning comes in a separate sachet that contains salt, garlic powder, spices, and condiments like chili powder, pepper, oregano, parsley, lemon juice, and citric acid. Its nutritional profile states it has 519 Kcal energy. It has 57 gm carbohydrates out of which 10 gm is dietary fibre, 9 gm protein and 29 gm fat, out of which 12 gm is saturated.
Butter Garlic
Just like Peri Peri, butter garlic flavouring too comes as a sachet and it contains maltodextrin, sugar, salt, hydrogenated vegetable fat, dried glucose syrup, milk solids, stabilizers, dextrose, emulsifier, anticaking agent, acidity regulators, flavour enhancers, yeast extract powder, spices and condiments like garlic, turmeric and chili powder. The nutritional profile is similar to the previous option with 514 KCal. It has 57.5 gm of carbohydrates out of which 10.7 gm is dietary fibre, 7.4 gm protein and 28.2 gm fat. 12.6 gm of the content is saturated fatty acid, which is harmful to health.
Diet Olive Oil
Hearing the label Diet, you may expect it to be of low calories. But, that is not the case. In all other labels, the nutritional information provided is per 100 gm, whereas in Diet Olive Oil popcorn, the label is per serving, which is 16 gm. So, while regular popcorns labels shows 510 KCal, diet Olive Oil label shows 82 KCal. But, this is for 16 gm. When you compute it to 100 gm, it comes to 512 KCal, which is similar to other flavours.
In addition to the regular ingredients like refined palm oil and salt, it contains olive pomace oil. Virgin olive oil goes rancid at high temperature. Hence, olive pomace oil is used as it doesn’t lose nutrients when heated.
Pepper Butter
The name Pepper Butter is a bit misleading as the ingredient list doesn’t contain butter. Rather, it contains vegetable fat, salt, pepper and beta carotene, which imparts the yellow colour.
Comparatively, it is a bit more calorie rich than other options with 579 Kcal per 100 gm. It contains 49 gm carbohydrates, 9 gm protein, 0.4 gm sodium and 39 gm fat, out of which 20 gm is saturated.
Tomato Chilli
Just like Peri Peri and butter garlic, Tomato Chilli flavouring too comes in a sachet. The ingredients of the sachet are tomato, onion and garlic powder, chili powder, salt, yeast extract powder, stabilizer, maltodextrin, citric acid and silicon dioxide.
100 gm of popcorn with the flavouring contains 56 gm carbohydrates, out of which 7.3 gm is dietary fibre and 0.3 gm is sugar. It also contains 9 gm protein, 0.9 gm sodium and 28.9 gm fat, out of which 11.6 gm is saturated fatty acids.
Sweet Pani Puri
Sweet pain puri flavour seasoning contains sugar, spices and condiments like dried mango powder, cumin powder, salt, tamarind powder, citric acid, corn starch and silicone dioxide. Its nutritional information states that it contains 58 gm carbohydrates, 7 gm protein, 28.5 gm fat out of which 12.4 gm is saturated.
Ready-To-Eat Popcorn
Comparatively, ready-to-eat popcorn is more processed and contain a lot of additives that helps preserve the taste and texture of the popcorn for a longer period.
White Cheddar
The ingredients of white cheddar ready to eat popcorn are popped corn, refined palm oil, salt, maltodextrin, cheddar cheese powder, whey powder, non dairy cream powder, hydrolyzed vegetable protein and lactic acid. Just like the ready-to-cook popcorn, it too contains about 11% saturated fatty acid and 100 g of popcorn gives 492 KCal of energy.
Sour Cream N Cheese
The ingredient list of sour cream and cheese act 2 popcorn is a lot more elaborate with numerous additives. It contains popped corn, refined palm oil, salt, sugar, onion, pepper, turmeric and chili powder, maltodextrin, milk solids, hydrogenated vegetable fat, dried glucose syrup, E365 ( disodium ribonucleotide), lactic acid, citric acid, trisodium citrate, silicon dioxide, disodium orthophosphate, dipottasium orthophosphate, carrageenan, dextrose, mono and diglycerides of fatty acid and cheese.
Though the ingredient list may appear intimidating, all these compounds are considered generally safe by FDA.
Other ready-to-eat flavours are butter, spicy pudina, sweet & salty, caramel bliss, salted & caramel etc.