Unfortunately, the first thing I learned was that in 2000, a pattern of lung cancer emerged among popcorn factory workers in charge of the gunk mixers. However, it was inhalants put off by the action of stirring gunk and not the gunk itself that led to a spate of lung transplant candidates. Most of the vapors came from "flavorings" created from chemical concoctions to emulate the taste of butter.

Aside from the secret blend of flavorings, gunk's ingredients are fairly mundane. Most brands are moistened by soybean oil, the component that gives gunk its finger-licking goodness. There is, of course, salt, the amount varying by brand. Rather than concerning myself with mundane thoughts of coronary health, I like to think about the salt as the electric conductor shooting sexual charges during the first brush of in-bag hand to hand contact.

Excluding the frequent use of hydrogenated oils, gunk's ingredients, although anything but natural, seem fairly benign. I'll let you draw your own conclusion. But for me,the mysterious orange mixture coating fingers, palms and even wrists is the key ingredient for a movie night pas de deux.