One of the most popular snack foods for people on a diet is popcorn. In terms of bulk per calorie, it's one of your best bets if you want something to temporarily relieve your hunger and quiet the snack monster.

While we'd all love to have time to make our own popcorn from scratch in a wok or with in air popper, most of us end up throwing a bag in the microwave when it's popcorn time. The problem is that standard butter-flavored microwave popcorn is loaded with fat, which is why it tastes good and makes your fingers greasy.

Diet books will tell you to eat plain, unbuttered popcorn for the healthiest option. However, I've yet to see an actual diet book author eating plain popcorn. It tastes like packing peanuts. Plain popcorn is one of those "I've given up hope" foods that can send you straight for a cheeseburger in desperation.

The obvious choice is one of the many "light" buttered popcorns. Sure, there's all manner of chemical weirdness that takes place to get real butter flavor into a low-fat popcorn, but it's small change compared to some of the other things we ingest on a daily basis.

For this test, five adult testers with a serious appetite for carbs assembled to test five national brands and one store's house brand. Each package was popped according to package directions, then poured into a large bowl to allow optimum flavoring and salt mixing.

Each tester was allowed to award a maximum of 20 points per entry based on aroma, texture, flavor and saltiness for a possible perfect score of 100 points. Nutritional information is provided for one serving (5.5 to 6 cups, depending on brand) of each entry.

Pop Secret 94% Fat Free: 120 calories, 2 grams fat, 0 cholesterol, 250 mg sodium, 23 grams carbs.

This may be the ultimate low-impact popcorn. It's got just the right salty hit, a good buttery flavor and it doesn't leave your fingers slimed with butter-flavored grease like some of the full-fat ones. The butter was a bit uneven, leaving the top layer in the bag dry, but if you toss the popcorn in a bowl instead of eating it from the bag, you'll never know the difference. Final score: 96.

Orville Redenbacher Natural 50% Less Fat: 120 calories, 6 grams fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 250 mg sodium, 19 grams carbs.

This one had a bit more fat than the others, but its only purpose seemed to be to give a bit of a greasy feel to the kernels. While the kernels did pop up very light and almost unbelievably puffy, the greasiness almost ruined the impression. The butter flavor was almost nonexistent, although the salt tang was just right. Final score: 77.

Lowe's Foods Light 50% Less Fat: 140 calories, 5 grams fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 400 mg sodium, 21 grams carbs.

This was just a half-step removed from plain popcorn. There was no discernible butter flavor, and just a hint of butter in the aroma. Despite the relatively high sodium content, even that flavor was very muted. The kernels were light and popped evenly, they just had very little character. Final score: 56.

Orville Redenbacher Smart Pop 94% Fat Free: 120 calories, 2 grams fat, 0 cholesterol, 240 mg sodium, 25 grams carbs.

This is a diet popcorn that tastes like what people imagine diet popcorn tastes like. The kernels were slightly rubbery, not crisp, the butter flavor was very muted and salt was the predominant flavor characteristic. The testers weren't sure what sort of evil flavoring mojo was used to give the Pop Secret tons of butter flavor for the same grams of fat, but it obviously wasn't used here. Final score: 65.

Smart Balance Light Butter: 120 calories, 4.5 grams fat, 0 cholesterol, 290 mg sodium, 18 grams carbs.

This was the most expensive popcorn in the test, but didn't quite deliver good bang for the buck. The popped kernels were a bit plastic-like, not quite as crunchy as others. The butter flavor was hard to pick out, although the salt was well-balanced. One odd note: While popping, this one had almost none of the usual microwave-popcorn aroma that draws your co-workers to your office no matter how hard you try to hide. This could be the "stealth popcorn" that you've been seeking. Final score: 82.

Jolly Time Healthy Pop: 100 calories, 2 grams fat, 0 cholesterol, 210 mg sodium, 23 grams carbs.

Two of the five testers had to be shown the box to prove that this was not a full-fat popcorn. The butter flavor was strong, and almost every kernel had a touch of it. The salt was present, but didn't overpower the butter. The texture was light and crisp, with just the barest hint of grease on the fingertips after three or four handfuls. Jolly Time is one of the oldest names in the popcorn business, and the experience shows with a final score of 98.

So in our popcorn tests, Jolly Time is two for two, and once again the best buy. You might have to go to more than one grocery store to find it, as in some places Orville and Pop Secret have elbowed out all the other brands, but it's worth the hunt.