Living Intentions Activated Popcorn: Well intended if you're a bottom dweller.
July 14, 2020 Report
Popcorn is one of the most common go-to snacks available on the market today, but they can be full of additives and highly processed. Corn itself is one of the largest GMO manufactured grains today. We’ve all heard the negatives attached to microwave popcorn and so many of us have either gone back to air popped or popped in the old pot. There are so many different brands of popcorn out there which advertise as healthy, but when you take a look at the ingredients, they really aren’t. And does anyone else find bagged popcorn has the texture of cardboard? But sometimes, we still want convenience.
I recently tried something a little different in the popcorn family and used my kids as guinea pigs again. Living Intentions’ Activated Popcorn sounded intriguing and worth a try. Described as a superfood popcorn, it is packed with spirulina and chlorella – two nutrient dense blue-green microalgae and great sources of vitamins A, B and Beta-Carotene. They are often used in smoothies as binders for detoxification and some use it to maintain blood glucose levels or reduce high blood pressure. They are very heart healthy nutrients. In addition, the popcorn also contains kale, another nutrient dense food and packed with vitamin C.
I wasn’t sure how this would taste with popcorn, but when I saw that they were going for a Salsa Verde flavour and that it “may taste like it came from your Abuela’s kitchen”, I assumed it could work. I was wrong. The kids immediately were thrown off by the sharp spice from the chilies. The algae were too strong in its algae-like flavour making it not very kid friendly. Sadly, it turned off my taste buds too. Now, if you are someone who regularly adds spirulina or chlorella into foods, then you might like it. I for one found it too strong and the spice blends didn’t seem to go together (ie. dill and lemon with greens and cumin). What I thought would be an explosion of flavour was merely a blend of too many seasonings.
Now although I was SURE I would never buy this again, my husband tried it afterward and LOVED it. If you are someone who enjoys dried seaweed as a snack, this may be for you. He couldn’t sing its praises more, so I guess the lesson here is to really have a sense of what appeals to you.
Nonetheless, the idea of an activated popcorn is a good one, and for many more experienced cyanobacteria lovers, this might be worth a try. It is also non-GMO, organic and gluten free. As a collective family friendly movie snack however, it fell short.
