The Best and Worst Movie Foods

Worst Movie Snack

Buttered popcorn (medium: 10-12 cups)


600 calories

39 g fat (12 g saturated)
1,120 mg sodium

Popcorn can be a great, fiber-rich snack, as long as you stay away from the dreaded butter pump. Besides tripling the calories of a page of popcorn, many movie theater “butters” are teeming with trans fat. (Check out the Fattiest Foods in America.) Instead, seek flavor from the spice mixes many theaters carry now. Or grab a pretzel: As long as you’re not dipping it into molten cheese, a large soft pretzel makes a reasonable movie theater snack. Be really good and ask them to skip the salt—mustard packs plenty of sodium as it is.

Eat This Instead!

Soft pretzel with mustard

290 calories
0 g fat

850 mg sodium

Worst Chocolate Candies

M&M’s (1 bag)

240 calories

10 g fat (6 g saturated)
31 g sugars

They may seem harmless and fun in their tiny candy-coated vessels, but a few generous handful of M&M’s can wipe out a meal’s worth of calories before you know it. Pick Junior Mints instead. Minty candies tend to be the best of the chocolate choices. Just be sure to split the box with your friend.

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Junior Mints (1/2 box)

170 calories

3 g fat (2.5 g saturated)
32 g sugars

Worst Licorice-Type Candy

Twizzlers (1 package)

480 calories
2 g fat 

64 g sugars

Ignore the “low fat” claims on the side of the package—these are nothing more than ropes of high-fructose corn syrup. Opt for real licorice in the Good & Plenty box. Many cultures have viewed licorice as a healing herb for centuries, with anti-inflammatory properties. But we’re just thankful they have less sugar and fewer calories than traditional chewy fruit candies.

Eat This Instead!

Good & Plenty (33 pieces)


130 calories
0 g fat 

21 g sugars

Worst Chocolate Bar

Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bar

210 calories

13 g fat (8 g saturated)
24 g sugars

If you’re going to eat pure chocolate, you’re better off picking up a bar with at least 65% cacao. That way, you lower you sugar intake while maximizing antioxidants. Since most movie theaters don’t offer the dark stuff, opt for a Kit Kat bar instead. Break it up and dole out the pieces to your friends. (Just because there are four in a package doesn’t mean you need to eat them all yourself).

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Kit Kat Bar

Worst Chewy Fruit Candy

Dots (22 pieces)

260 calories

0 g fat

42 g sugars

They stick to your teeth just like they stick to your waistline. You’re better off going for nearly any other gummy product besides Dots. In the world of pure sugar candies, few are better than the fish from Sweden.

Eat This Instead!

Swedish Fish (2 oz)

200 calories

0 g fat


28 g sugars200 calories
11 g fat (7 g saturated)

20 g sugars