Popcorn Consumption Statistics
What are the popcorn consumption statistics? Americans consume some 17 billion quarts of this whole grain, good-for-you treat. That’s about 58 quarts per man, woman and child. It is even the official snack of Illinois. Surprisingly, approximately 70% is consumed at home, with the remaining 30% eaten outdoors.
Most U.S. popcorn is grown in the Midwest, primarily in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska and Ohio. The top five major popcorn-producing states are Nebraska, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and Missouri. United States exports most of its popcorn to India, Japan and South Korea.
Other major destinations for U.S. popcorn included Sweden, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Italy, Thailand, Denmark, and the Philippines.
As far as popcorn consumptions statistics go, about 90% of the sales of the unpopped popcorn is sold to consumers for at home consumption.
The acres of corn we see in the Midwest during growing season is not exactly the kind that could be picked and eaten for dinner, or dried and popped. Those are actually typically field corn, and is used largely for livestock feed, and is different from sweet corn or popcorn.
There are 6 types of maize (or corn) – pod, sweet, flour, dent, flint and popcorn – and popcorn is the only one that pops. Its scientific name is Zea mays everta. How it’s different from other types of corn is that it has a thicker hull which allows pressure from the heated water and eventually burst the corn open. The starch inside the corn turns gelatinous while being heated. When the hull pops, the gelatinized starch spills out and cools, giving the familiar popcorn shapes – snowflake and mushroom. The snowflake, which is sold in theaters and ball parks because they look and pop bigger. The mushroom, which is the smaller variety used in popcorn candies and snacks because it doesn’t crumble.
In order for the corn kernel to have perfect popability, several things have to happen first. The moisture content of kernel needs to be between 13% to 14%. The expansion ratio should be 35 to 38 to one. Also, a good batch should have at least 98% of the kernels popped. Everything from processing procedures to home storage and handling affect the quality of the popcorn.
Popability is popcorn lingo that refers to the percentage of kernels that pop.
The world's largest popcorn ball was created by hundreds of volunteers in Sac City, Iowa on June 18, 2016. The ball weighed 9,370 pounds—made up of almost 5 tons of popcorn—and was 12 feet in diameter. The ball was built at the Noble Popcorn plant where the volunteers worked to re-claim the "world's largest" title—a title the city had held 3 times prior.
Popcorn has 30 calories per cup when air-popped.
When oil-popped, it contains only 55 calories.
Buttered popcorn has 90 to 120 calories per cup.
Popcorn is a whole grain food which makes it a high-quality carbohydrate source that is not only low in calories, but high in fiber. This means it takes longer to chew and makes you feel full longer.
If you want to check out if popcorn is healthy or unhealthy, read this.
