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This is one of the most asked questions on the Weight Watchers boards. Why is it so to calculate points for popcorn? Let me break down the brand I eat.

Orville Redenbacher's Smart Pop 94% Fat Free Butter 2.9oz bag (regular size bag, not the mini or 100 cal pack)

According to the bag, a serving size is 3 tbsp unpopped (7 cups popped) there are 2 servings per container which means the bag contains 6 tbsp of unpopped popcorn (14 popped)

Nutritional information for 6tbsp unpopped:

  • 240 calories
  • 4 g of fat
  • 8 g of Fiber
  • 4 points

Now the bag gives the calorie count for 1 cup popped as 15 calories. If you multiply that by 14 (number of cups in the bag) you get 255 calories for the bag. This still gives you 4 points. So, no matter how you look at it the normal size bag (meaning not the mini bag) of Orville Redenbacher's Smart Pop 94% Fat Free Butter is 4 points for the whole thing.

Next I looked up another brand online, 94% Fat Free JOLLY TIME® Healthy Pop® Butter Flavor. According to their site, a serving size is 2 tbsp unpopped (5 cups popped) and there are 2.5 servings per bag which means the bag contains 5 tbsp of unpopped popcorn (12.5 cups popped).

Nutritional Information of 5 tbsp unpopped:

  • 225 calories
  • 5 g of fat
  • 22.5 g of fiber (find this hard to believe, but it doesn't really matter because of the fiber cap)
  • 4 points

They give the calories of 1 cup popped as 20 calories. 20 times 12.5 is 250 calories which still gives you 4 points.

In my opinion, most larger bags of 94% fat free popcorns are 4 points. As for the smaller or single servings bags, I don't buy them much, but when I do I count them as 2 points. I know there are some brands out there that are 1 point, but they are usually the 100 calorie bags.

I hope that helps a little but. I think everyone has asked the popcorn question at least once. If you calculated the points for other brands let me know in the comments.

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Wiki User

14y ago

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