#WTFact Videos In #WTFact Britannica shares some of the most bizarre facts we can find.Britannica Classics Check out these retro videos from Encyclopedia Britannica’s archives.Britannica Explains In these videos, Britannica explains a variety of topics and answers frequently asked questions.It's gonna be hard to enjoy a movie now that we know we never knew you at all. So, if your large bucket of plain popcorn is about 1,000 calories with just the Flavacol seasoning on it and you choose to add a minimum of three tablespoons of buttery topping or as much as six if you opt for a squirt in the middle and a squirt on top, the large bucket you nosh on while watching the latest blockbuster could be more than 2,000 calories. The final ingredient? The one that gives movie theater popcorn it's yummy, irresistible taste? TA DA: buttery flavoring, a 100 percent non-dairy, mystery chemical that merely mimics the taste of butter.Īnother slap in the face is that movie theater butter flavored topping has 20 more calories per tablespoon than real butter. What it does contain is partially hydrogenated soybean oil (a trans fat that's super bad for you: think heart disease), beta-carotene (a natural pigment that can also be made in a lab), tertiary Butylhydroquinone or TBHQ (a synthetic preservative that keeps the oily golden fluid from becoming rancid as it sits) and polydimethylsiloxane or PDMS (a silicone-based chemical that prevents, ew, foaming) and is actually, not kidding, the main component of Silly Putty. So, heads up if you have high blood pressure or want to monitor your sodium consumption for other health reasons.Īnd that butter flavored topping? It - warning, betrayal alert - doesn't have any butter in it at all. One teaspoon contains 116 percent of your recommended daily intake of sodium, based on a 2,000 calorie per day diet. While Flavacol has zero calories and zero fat, carbs, protein, or vitamin and mineral content, it packs a wallop in the sodium department. It contains only four ingredients: super-fine salt, artificial flavor and two synthetic yellow dyes that give the popcorn its vibrant buttery-ish color. Flavacol is a seasoned powder that goes on the corn before it's popped.

Movie popcorn