I let my girls eat it at around 2.5, but social media has made me much more aware (and paranoid). My son turned 3 last month and I’ve just started breaking off little pieces and letting him eat them.
4. Choking is the #1 injury to kids and every 5 days, one child in the US dies from choking. There was a little girl on babybump who died from popcorn and choking. It was awful. I absolutely do not mess around with food and choking. Children under 4 have the highest rates from choking. There are safer alternatives, it just isn't worth the risk. They don't have the coordination and strength to manage irregular textures or cough up inhaled particles of food. It just takes one incident. So not worth it.
I let my boy only have a few pieces. That scares me cause those kernel things that get stuck in our teeth, but he was fine. I haven’t tried it since then