Serious Eats
Judge Rejects Man’s Lawsuit Against Movie Theater for Popcorn Tooth Injury
When Steve Kaplan of New York City fractured his tooth after biting on an unpopped popcorn kernel at an Upper West Side movie theater, he demanded that the theater pay his $1,250 dental bill. Civil Court Judge Matthew Cooper denied the claim, saying that unpopped kernels were unavoidable:
Until such time as the same bio-engineers who brought us seedless watermelon are able to develop a new strain of popping corn where every kernel is guaranteed to pop, we will just have to accept partially popped popcorn as part and parcel of the popcorn popping process.
To prevent potential tooth fractures, Cooper suggested eating the popcorn one by one or avoiding popcorn and just eating candy.