Can anyone solve the popcorn mystery?

Me and a friend, Rachel, have had an ongoing conversation about the ridiculousness and difficulty of interpreting and comprehending the nutrition information for popcorn. So she suggested that I raise this issue on my blog and see if anyone could help us figure this out.

You wouldn't think that it would be that hard to figure out how many calories there are in a serving of a particular food. However, popcorn (and a few other items like rice and pasta), seem to be the exception. For some reason, they (the people who put together the nutrition information) feel it is important to include the serving size for unpopped popcorn. Why? Does anyone eat unpopped popcorn? So who cares that one serving of unpopped popcorn is 1/4 cup?

The picture below is a little blurry (I won't tell you how long it took me to take it), but hopefully you'll get the gist of this. Under Nutrition Facts, it says:

Serving size 1/4 cup
Makes about 5 cups popped
Servings per container 2 per bag

Calories 110

the nutrition facts on my current box of popcorn

So, I think this is how to interpret it. One serving of popcorn is equal to 1/4 cup of unpopped popcorn (for those who choose to eat it that way) and 5 cups of popped popcorn and that there are 2 servings of popped popcorn in each bag, making a total of 10 cups of popped popcorn per bag. And, that each serving of popped popcorn (5 cups) is 110 calories. So, I guess in a way that makes sense.

But just when you think you have it figured out. Wait, there's more. On the front of the box (which I did not take a picture of) it says, "25 calories per cup." Okay, so hang in there with me. I know I'm not a math major but if each cup is 25 calories, than 5 cups (what is listed as one serving) would be 125 calories, right? So how come the back of the box says that 1 serving (5 cups) is 110 calories?

This is just one example. I'm anxiously awaiting Rachel's e-mail with a picture of her popcorn nutrition facts because each brand seems to have a different approach to explaining the nutrition information.

I challenge you to take a look at your popcorn box and see if you can make sense out of it. Let me know what you find!

Happy popping...