Theater chains not making progress in serving up healthier snacks

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.

That's the finding of 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.

CSPI bought multiple servings of popcorn from the three largest movie chains, Regal Entertainment Group, AMC and Cinemark, and had them analyzed in an independent lab.

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.

An AMC medium popcorn did better because of its smaller size, just nine cups, at 590 calories and 33 grams of saturated fat. A 14-cup Cinemark medium was 760 calories and just 3 grams of saturated fat (in both cases, before adding buttery topping).

One major problem is that Regal and AMC, the two largest chains, pop their popcorn in coconut oil which is about 90% saturated fat, noted Jayne Hurley, senior nutritionist at Washington-based CSPI.

Cinemark, the third-largest chain, now pops its corn in canola oil, which explains its much lower saturated fat levels.

"Cinemark gets a thumbs-up for switching," Hurley said.

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