I used to eat microwave popcorn a lot. If I had it in the house, I would eat it every night until it was gone. I wouldn't have to run out and get another box right away but when I got groceries I'd buy more. Once again, I'd eat it every night until it was gone. I was somewhat addicted.
A few years passed when I didn't eat it as much. Lately, I started buying it again and I'm having the hardest time with the husks. You know, the little, hard, golden translucent pieces that covered the kernel before it popped. I don't recall ever being bothered by them before. I really don't recall there being so many of them throughout the popped corn.
They get in my teeth and gums and have to be scraped from the back of my tongue. Every few mouthfuls of popcorn, I have to spit out a gob of these husks. By the time I finish the bowl, there is a pile of gobs on a saucer beside it.

I've only eaten 1/2 of the popcorn really. They really aren't husks. I think the husks are the leaves that you pull from the ears of corn when you're shucking them.
I tried my old fav,
Act II. Then I tried
Pop Secret and
Jolly Time again. Same problem. I bought
Skinny Pop and another gourmet brand. They were no better. In frustration, I bought
Orville's, just knowing that it would be better, but it was not. I even bought
Newman's Own and it was the same.
I just don't understand. It's possible that in the past popcorn was the same but I didn't notice. Maybe as I've aged over 65 and my system has changed that my mouth is more sensitive to what was always there. But as I stare at fresh popped corn now, I just don't remember seeing all of those little hard skins throughout the bowl.
Could the way in which corn production has evolved have something to do with it? Have corn kernels actually changed so that they pop differently now? Interestingly, when I was looking at a listing for gourmet organic popcorn (not microwave) at
Swanson's online, I read the feedback. A lady had given low stars because she said the popcorn had too many
husks. Though that is not what they actually are, I knew exactly what she meant.
Maybe it's a combination of changes in my body
and changes in the corn crop. Whatever it is, I don't think there's any other popcorn worth trying. I wonder if the movie theatre popcorn is better? It's been so long since I've been. Are there any theatres where you can walk in just to buy their snacks and then leave? The number of movies that I feel are worth seeing has dwindled significantly. I rarely went even back then when they were better. Even if theatre popcorn is better, I can't go to one to buy it every time I want some. I doubt that it's better anyway.
I just think it's a permanent change whatever the cause. I won't be buying microwave popcorn anymore. I've given it up. I've been broken from my addiction. I'm going to stick with snack crackers and when I occasionally buy chips.