What makes movie popcorn so gosh darned expensive? What's in that strange yellow liquid they call butter anyhow? And while we're at it - what are in those popcorn anyhow?
Well, it's all a secret and theater owners are fighting the FDA to keep it that way:
Alarmed at the prospect, representatives of the National Assn. of Theatre Owners have been lobbying the FDA and congressional staff members in recent weeks to exempt theaters from the nutritional labeling requirement.
They argue that the proposed rules are an unwarranted intrusion into their business because people visit theaters to consume movies, not food.
"We're not restaurants where people go to eat and satisfy themselves," Gary Klein, the theater trade group's general counsel, said. "It's dinner and a movie, not dinner at a movie."
Theater operators have a vested interest in fighting the proposed rules, as they generate up to one-third of their revenue from selling popcorn, sodas and other snacks. Popcorn is especially profitable. As David Ownby, the chief financial officer of Regal Entertainment Group, the nation's largest theater circuit, recently said at an investor presentation, "We sell a bucket of popcorn for about $6. Our cost in that $6 bucket of popcorn is about 15 cents or 20 cents. So if that cost doubles, it doesn't really hurt me that much."
$0.20 to $6? That's a 3,000% mark up! Link
Even for those without allergies or other conditions it's important dietary information that should be available on demand.
I always told customers who asked, or who offhandedly said they believed popcorn was the healthiest thing there.
But it is true about the mark-ups on food being the only way cinemas can profit. We didn't allow patrons to bring in hot food or alcohol, everything else was fine - but distributors take 70% off ticket sales, on average I think we made about 3 dollars a customer.
Next they'll argue that health rules shouldn't apply to them because their main business isn't food.
Tell that to the people who order chicken wings, onion rings, candy and soda at the movie theater near me. Perhaps if customers knew what garbage they were putting in their body, Movie theaters would have to sell healthier alternatives. But that would probably cut their greedy profits by 1% so they'll be against it.
I doubt that. Nobody ever went broke because they didn't provide healthy alternatives.
I don't really understand why we need to make them provide what's in their food. I mean, if you're eating something but you're concerned because you don't know what's in it? Well, why are you eating it?
I understand it has become the law so I guess I support anyone trying to get the movie theaters to comply but it seems silly to scream about how someone won't reveal what's in the food they're selling. That should be an obvious hint that you shouldn't eat it, regardless of what is actually in it.
coconut or canola oil, w/ annatto coloring.
salt
melted butter fat (optional, this may or may not contain preservatives and flavorings depending on theater.)
There you go.