# "Whole grain" pop corn **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 24, 2014, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-grain-pop-corn/686861 "2014-04-24T13:33:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-grain-pop-corn/686861/1 "2014-04-24T13:33:59Z")
When I saw that my local supermarket sells “whole grain” popcorn, I thought for sure it was a joke. Isn’t all popcorn whole grain? Or am I missing something? ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-grain-pop-corn/686861/2 "2014-04-24T14:30:28Z")
According to [The Popcorn Board](http://www.popcorn.org/ForTeachers/TeachingGuide/WhatMakesPopcornPop/tabid/88/Default.aspx) (and it would know), all popcorn is whole grain. Marketing BS like that just drives me nuts. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-grain-pop-corn/686861/3 "2014-04-24T14:37:34Z")
You’re missing that it costs 35% more than normal popcorn. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-grain-pop-corn/686861/4 "2014-04-24T14:49:06Z")
I saw this on Starbucks brand popped corn a while back. “Now 100% whole grain!” um… so is everybody else’s… ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-grain-pop-corn/686861/5 "2014-04-24T15:03:06Z")
You can blame marketing, but they’re just responding to the latest idiotic public desire. They put stuff like “whole grain” on popcorn because people don’t realize that the “whole grain” label can be stamped on so many things. A better way to put it would be “Popcorn is a whole grain food”. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-grain-pop-corn/686861/6 "2014-04-24T16:04:41Z")
But is it gluten free? ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-grain-pop-corn/686861/7 "2014-04-24T16:08:37Z")
It’s good with fat free water! ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-grain-pop-corn/686861/8 "2014-04-24T16:14:18Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > But is it gluten free? Yes! Also, it’s also vegetarian, vegan and contains no meat by-products. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-grain-pop-corn/686861/9 "2014-04-24T16:43:03Z")
“Vegan” or “contains no meat by-products” might actually be meaningful, given the common practice of putting butter on popcorn. It’s also [asbestos-free](http://xkcd.com/641/). ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-grain-pop-corn/686861/10 "2014-04-24T17:48:22Z")
Not made from Conflict popcorn. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-grain-pop-corn/686861/11 "2014-04-24T17:54:12Z")
Betcha it’s got HFCS in it. That shit’s everywhere. ETA: Honestagawd, I wrote that as a joke and hit post before the real joke hit me… ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-grain-pop-corn/686861/12 "2014-04-24T18:42:01Z")
Personally, I only eat popcorn made from cruelty free, wild caught corn. Picked in the during the peak of it’s season, by well paid, non minority workers with college degrees, good benefits and they only work at night so they don’t get sun damaged skin. It receives only Fiji water, imported from Fiji and homemade fertilizer, it’s massaged daily and read bed time stories by the locals. It’s $47 a bag and only so so. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-grain-pop-corn/686861/13 "2014-04-24T18:47:33Z")
“Whole Grain” is used as the marketing attractor because popcorn cannot be referred to as “Gluten Free,” since the grain still contains the endosperm. The endosperm is the little part on a grain with a embryo type sprout that will become a new plant if the grain is watered and sprouts. This little bitty potential sprout is the dreaded gluten, which all media now refer to as some kind of bio-poison. Popcorn is a special kind of corn that has a hard external casing enclosing the entire seed. Once heated the moisture inside the tough shell boils and explodes the kernel. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-grain-pop-corn/686861/14 "2014-04-24T18:49:00Z")
So if you pop the kernels you are aborting the baby corn???!!! :eek::eek::eek: KILLERS!!! ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-grain-pop-corn/686861/15 "2014-04-24T18:49:03Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Not made from Conflict popcorn. I like blood popcorn myself. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-grain-pop-corn/686861/16 "2014-04-24T18:51:58Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > I like blood popcorn myself. That should go over well with the Paleo crowd. ---
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-grain-pop-corn/686861/17 "2014-04-24T18:58:26Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Personally, I only eat popcorn made from cruelty free, wild caught corn. Picked in the during the peak of it’s season, by well paid, non minority workers with college degrees, good benefits and they only work at night so they don’t get sun damaged skin. It receives only Fiji water, imported from Fiji and homemade fertilizer, it’s massaged daily and read bed time stories by the locals. > > It’s $47 a bag and only so so. Yeah, but that Fiji water is leaving a huge carbon footprint. I bet the workers are, too. At least it’s kosher. Is it Halal? —G? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-grain-pop-corn/686861/18 "2014-04-24T19:01:28Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > “Whole Grain” is used as the marketing attractor because popcorn cannot be referred to as “Gluten Free,” since the grain still contains the endosperm. > > The endosperm is the little part on a grain with a embryo type sprout that will become a new plant if the grain is watered and sprouts. This little bitty potential sprout is the dreaded gluten, which all media now refer to as some kind of bio-poison. > > Popcorn is a special kind of corn that has a hard external casing enclosing the entire seed. Once heated the moisture inside the tough shell boils and explodes the kernel. I’m confused. Are you saying that regular corn and/or popcorn isn’t Gluten Free? ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-grain-pop-corn/686861/19 "2014-04-24T19:29:24Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I’m confused. Are you saying that regular corn and/or popcorn isn’t Gluten Free? Corn is gluten-free. Gluten is, by definition, protein found in grasses such as wheat and barley. Corn isn’t a grass. Corn protein is called zein, which is chemically different from gluten but is often incorrectly called “corn gluten.” ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-grain-pop-corn/686861/20 "2014-04-24T20:12:56Z")
I only eat dolphin-free popcorn. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-grain-pop-corn/686861.md?page=2)