Margarine

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Margarine in a tub
Margarine in a tub

Margarine (pronounced /ˈmɑrdʒərɪn/ or /ˈmɑrgəriːn/), as a generic term, can indicate any of a wide range of butter substitutes. In many parts of the world, margarine has become the best-selling table spread, although butter and olive oil also command large market shares. Margarine is an ingredient in the preparation of many other foods. In some regions people may refer to margarine as butter in informal speech, but in several countries laws forbid food packaging to refer to margarine as "butter". Recipes sometimes refer to margarine as oleo.

Contents

[edit] History

Margarine has a long and sometimes confusing history. Its name originates with the discovery by Michel Eugène Chevreul in 1813 of "margaric acid" (itself named after the pearly deposits of the fatty acid from Greek μαργαρίς, -ρῖτης or μάργαρον (margarís, -îtēs / márgaron), meaning "a pearl-oyster" or "a pearl"). Scientists at the time regarded margaric acid, like oleic acid and stearic acid, as one of the three fatty acids which, in combination, formed most animal fats. In 1853 the German structural chemist Wilhelm Heinrich Heintz analyzed margaric acid as simply a combination of stearic acid and of the previously unknown palmitic acid.[citation needed]

In 1869 Emperor Louis Napoleon III of France offered a prize to anyone who could make a satisfactory substitute for butter, suitable for use by the armed forces and the lower classes.[1] French chemist Hippolyte Mège-Mouriés invented a substance he called oleomargarine, the name of which became shortened to the trade name "Margarine". Margarine now refers generically to any of a range of broadly similar edible oils. The name oleomargarine is sometimes abbreviated to oleo.

Manufacturers produced oleomargarine by taking clarified vegetable fat, extracting the liquid portion under pressure, and then allowing it to solidify. When combined with butyrin and water, it made a cheap and more-or-less palatable butter-substitute. Sold as Margarine or under any of a host of other trade names, butter-substitutes soon became a substantial market segment — but too late to help Mège-Mouriés: although he expanded his initial manufacturing operation from France to the United States in 1873, he had little commercial success. By the end of the decade both the old world and the new could buy artificial butters.[citation needed]

From that time on, two main trends would dominate the margarine industry: on one hand a series of refinements and improvements to the product and its manufacture, and on the other a long and bitter struggle with the dairy industry, which defended itself from the margarine industry with vigor. As early as 1877 the first U.S. states had passed laws to restrict the sale and labelling of margarine. By the mid-1880s the United States federal government had introduced a tax of two cents per pound, and devotees needed an expensive license to make or sell the product. Individual states began to require the clear labelling of margarine, banning passing it off as real butter.[citation needed]

The key to slowing margarine sales (and protecting the established dairy industries), however, emerged as restricting its color. Margarine naturally appears white or almost white: by forbidding the addition of artificial coloring-agents, legislators found that they could keep margarine off kitchen tables. Bans on coloration became commonplace around the world and endured for almost 100 years. It did not become legal to sell colored margarine in Australia, for example, until the 1960s.

[edit] Margarine in the USA

In the United States, the color bans, drafted by the butter lobby, began in the dairy states of New York and New Jersey. In several states, the legislature enacted laws to force margarine manufacturers to add pink colorings to make the product look unpalatable, but the Supreme Court struck down New Hampshire's law and overruled these measures. By the start of the 20th century, eight out of ten Americans could not buy yellow margarine, and those that could had to pay a hefty tax on it. Bootleg colored margarine became common, and manufacturers began to supply food-coloring capsules so that the consumer could knead the yellow color into margarine before serving it. Nevertheless, the regulations and taxes had a significant effect: the 1902 restrictions on margarine color, for example, cut annual U.S. consumption from 120 million to 48 million pounds (54,000 to 22,000 tons). However, by the end of the 1910s, it had become more popular than ever.

With the coming of World War I, margarine consumption increased enormously, even in unscathed regions like the United States. In the countries closest to the fighting, dairy products became almost unobtainable and were strictly rationed. The United Kingdom, for example, depended on imported butter from Australia and New Zealand and the risk of submarine attack meant that little arrived. Margarine became the staple spread, and butter a rare and expensive luxury.[citation needed]

The long-running rent-seeking battle between the margarine and dairy lobbies continued: in the United States, the Great Depression brought a renewed wave of pro-dairy legislation; the Second World War, a swing back to margarine. Post-war, the margarine lobby gained power and, little by little, the main margarine restrictions were lifted, the last state to do so being Wisconsin in 1967. However, some vestiges of the legal restrictions remain in the U.S.: the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act still prohibits the retail sale of margarine in packages larger than one pound .[2]

[edit] Margarine in Canada

In Canada, margarine was banned from 1886 until 1948 though this ban was temporarily lifted from 1917 until 1923 due to dairy shortages.[3] Nevertheless, bootleg margarine was produced in neighboring British colony of Newfoundland from whale, seal and fish oil by the Newfoundland Butter Company (which, in fact, produced only margarine) and was smuggled to Canada where it was widely sold for half the price of butter. The Supreme Court of Canada lifted the margarine ban in 1948. In 1950, as a result of a court ruling giving provinces the right to regulate the product, rules were implemented in much of Canada regarding margarine's color requiring it to be bright yellow or orange in some provinces or colorless in others. By the 1980s most provinces had lifted the restriction, however, in Ontario it was not legal to sell butter-colored margarine until 1995.[3] As of 2008, Quebec, which requires margarine to be colorless, is the only jurisdiction in North America to regulate the color of margarine. Quebec's margarine law was upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada in 2005.[3]

[edit] Margarine today

A German Rama margarine.
A German Rama margarine.

In the meantime, margarine manufacturers had made many changes. Modern margarine can be made from any of a wide variety of animal or vegetable fats, and is often mixed with skimmed milk, salt, and emulsifiers. Margarine made from vegetable oils is especially important in today's market, as it provides a vegan and pareve substitute for butter. Nearly all margarine is salted, which makes shortening (which contains no salt) a better choice for baking.

In terms of microstructure, margarine is a water-in-oil emulsion, containing dispersed water droplets of typically 5-10 µm diameter. The amount of crystallizing fat in the continuous oil+fat phase determines the firmness of the product. In the relevant temperature range, saturated fats contribute most to the amount of crystalline fat, whereas monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats contribute relatively little to the amount of crystalline fat in the product. Mono- and polyunsaturated fats and oils can be transformed into suitable substrates by the chemical process of hydrogenation, which renders them solid at room temperature. Full hydrogenation results in saturated fats only, but partial hydrogenation will lead to the formation of trans-fats as well (see Trans fat).

Three main types of margarine are common:

  • Hard, generally uncolored margarine for cooking or baking. (Shortening)
  • "Traditional" margarines for such uses as spreading on toast, which contain saturated fats, are mostly made from vegetable oils.
  • Margarines high in mono- or polyunsaturated fats, which are made from safflower, sunflower, soybean, cottonseed, rapeseed, or olive oil.

Many popular table spreads today are blends of margarine and butter — something that was long illegal in countries including the United States and Australia — and are designed to combine the lower cost and easy-spreading of artificial butter with the taste of the real thing.

Margarine, particularly polyunsaturated margarine, has become a major part of the Western diet. In the United States, for example, in 1930 the average person ate over 18 lb (8 kg) of butter a year and just over 2 lb (900g) of margarine. By the end of the 20th century, an average American ate just under 4 lb (1.8 kg) of butter and nearly 8 lb (3.6 kg) of margarine.

Under European Union directives, margarine products cannot be called "butter", even if most of it consists of natural butter. In some European countries butter based table spreads and margarine products are marketed as "butter mixtures".

These "butter mixtures" compose a significant portion of the table spread market. The brand "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" spawned a variety of similarly-named spreads that can be found on supermarket shelves all over the world. With names like "Utterly Butterly," "You'd Butter Believe it," "Unbelievable! This Is Not Butter," and "Butterlicious," these butter mixtures avoid the restrictions on labeling with marketing techniques that imply a strong similarity to real butter.

The United States imports 10 billion pounds (4.5 million tons) of margarine a year. Additionally, the United States exports 2 billion pounds (900,000 tons) of margarine annually.

Margarine has a particular market to Orthodox Jews. The laws of Kashrut (the Jewish dietary laws) forbid the mixing of meat and dairy products, and hence there are strictly Kosher margarines available, which are often used by Jews adapting recipes that use meat and butter to be Kosher.

[edit] Nutrition

Discussions concerning the nutritional value of margarine revolve around two aspects: the total amount of fat, and the types of fat (saturated fat, trans fat). Usually, a comparison between margarine and butter is included in this context as well.

[edit] Amount of fat

Fat is an essential part of nutrition. It is needed in the production of cell membranes, as well as in several hormone-like compounds called eicosanoids. In addition, fat acts as carrier for fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K[4].

The total amount of fat you eat isn't really linked with disease[5]. However, fat consumption in the Western world is quite high, which is one of the reasons for weight problems. Traditional margarine (~80% fat) contributes to this, but is not the main factor causing over-consumption. Low-fat spreads could serve as an alternative, and are widely available.

The roles of butter and margarine are quite similar with respect to their energy content.

[edit] Saturated fat

The saturated fatty acids in triglycerides contribute to elevated blood cholesterol levels,[6][7] which in turn has often been linked to cardiovascular diseases. Saturated fat increases both LDL and HDL cholesterol.

Vegetable fats can contain anything between 10% and 100% saturated fatty acids. Liquid oils (unhardened canola oil, sunflower oil) tend to be on the low end, while tropical oils (coconut oil, palm kernal oil) and fully hardened oils are at the high end of the scale[8]. A margarine blend is a mixture of both types of components, and will rarely exceed 50% saturated fatty acids on fat. Exceptions are some traditional kitchen margarines or products that have to maintain stability under tropical conditions.[9] Generally, firmer margarines contain more saturated fat.

Regular butterfat contains ~65% saturated fatty acids on fat [10], although this varies somewhat with season. One tablespoon of butter contains over 7g of saturated fat.

[edit] Unsaturated fat

The unsaturated fatty acids are said to decrease LDL cholesterol (the "bad" cholesterol) levels and increase HDL cholesterol (the "good" cholesterol) levels in the blood, thus reducing the risk of contracting cardiovascular diseases.[11][12][13].

There are two types of unsaturated oils: mono- and polyunsaturated fats. Their nutritional and health effects are recognized in contrast to saturated fats; each degree of unsaturation conferring additional benefits. Some widely grown vegetable oils such as rapeseed (and its variant canola), sunflower, safflower, and olive oils contain high amount of unsaturated fats[8]. During the manufacture of margarine, some of the unsaturated fats are converted into saturated fats or trans fats in order to give them a higher melting point so that they are solid at room temperatures. These hydrogenated oils lose the health benefits of unsaturation, but the process need not be declared to the consumer; it will depend on local laws.

  • Omega-3 fatty acids are a family of triply unsaturated fatty acids, which have been found especially good for health (see the main article) because, although only needed in small quantities in the diet, their absence can cause serious illness. Omega-3 fatty acids are mostly obtained from oily fish caught in high-latitude waters, but flax oil (linseed oil) is exeptionally rich in the Omega-3 fatty acid alpha-lineloic acid (LNA). This is one of the two Essential Fatty Acids, so called because humans cannot manufacture it and must get it from food. It is comparatively uncommon and most modern Western diets are severely deficient in it. Flax oil contains 30-50% LNA, easily more than any other source, and is becoming a popular dietary supplement to rival fish oils; both are often added to premium margarines. Hemp oil contains about 20% LNA. Small amounts of LNA are found in vegetable oils such as soybean oil (7%), rapeseed oil (7%) and wheat germ oil (5%). A new commercial plant (with ancient importance) is camelina (from camelina sativa, or false flax). Its oil is also high in LNA . Because of this, camelina oil has also recently been added to margarines.
  • Omega-6 fatty acids are also important for health. They include the Essential Fatty Acid Linoleic Acid (LA), which is abundant in vegetable oils grown in temperate climates. Some, such as hemp (60%) and the common margarine oils corn (60%), cottonseed ((50%) and sunflower (50%), have large amounts, but most temperate oil seeds have over 10% LA. Containing a major source of twice unsaturated fatty acids, such oils have positive health benefits. Much more Omega-6 oils are needed in the diet than Omega-3, therefore it is often recommended that the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 in the diet should be between 2.5:1 and 4:1, depending on both the individual's general diet and metabolism. Modern Western diets are frequently quite high in Omega-6 but very deficient in Omega-3.

[edit] Trans fat

Several large studies [14][15][16][17] indicate a link between consumption of high amounts of trans fat and coronary heart disease, and possibly some other diseases. This is mainly because trans fats increase the amount of LDL cholesterol and decrease the amount of HDL cholesterol in blood stream. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the American Heart Association (AHA) all have recommended people to limit intake of trans-fat.

Trans fats occur naturally in vegetable oils in only tiny quantities. However, they are a deliberate consequence of partial hydrogenation of light oils, intended to 'harden' the oil sufficiently for it to take on the eating quality of butter oil. In contrast, full hydrogenation generates few trans fats, but is intended to turn light oils into fully saturated fats, principally used in commercial vegetable shortenings for baking. The intended effect of partial hydrogenation is to straighten the molecule of polyunsaturated fatty acids, so that they behave more like saturated fats. These trans fatty acids are used by the body like saturated fats, mainly as fuel, but tend to block the use of Omega-3 and Omega-6 for vital bodily functions. They have been indicted as worse for health than even the well-publicized saturated fats in butter and meat.[18]

Particularly in the US, partial hydrogenation has been common as a result of national dependence on a limited number of vegetable oil sources, US-grown oils being preferred to tropical oils which are principally saturated fat. However, in other parts of the world, the industry started to move away from using partially hydrogenated oils in the mid-nineties.[19] This led to the production of new margarine varieties that contain less or no trans fat, the buttery consistency and 'mouth' being produced using other ingredients.[20] Many manufacturers in the US now label their products (following government regulations) as "zero grams" trans-fat, which effectively means less than 500 mg trans-fat per serving - no fat is entirely free of trans fats. For example, natural butterfat contains 2-5% trans fatty acids (mainly trans-vaccenic acid, a variant of the normal vaccenic acid).[21]

[edit] Cholesterol

Typically about 70% of human cholesterol is produced by the human body and only 30% comes from nutrition. Thus intake of cholesterol as food has less effect on blood cholesterol levels than the type of fat you eat[5]. However, some individuals are more responsive to dietary cholesterol than others. In the US, the FDA states that healthy people should not consume more than 300 mg of cholesterol each day.

Butter contains approximately 33 mg of cholesterol in each tablespoon[22]. Margarine contains only negligible amounts of or no cholesterol[23].

[edit] Plant sterol/stanol esters

Plant sterol esters or plant stanol esters have been added to some margarines and spreads because of their cholesterol lowering effect. Several studies have indicated that consumption of about 2 grams per day provides a reduction in LDL cholesterol of about 10%[24][25]. Sterol/stanol esters are tasteless and odorless, and have the same physical and chemical properties typical of most fats. However, they do not enter the the blood stream but instead pass through the gut. Thus they suit well to be used in low-fat spreads.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Science Power 9: Atlantic Edition, McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited. ISBN 0-07-560905-3.
  2. ^ Intrastate sales of colored oleomargarine
  3. ^ a b c Canada's conflicted relationship with margarine. CBC News Online (2005-03-18). Retrieved on 2007-08-28.
  4. ^ Mayo Clinic (Jan 31, 2007). Dietary fats: Know which types to choose. Retrieved on 2008-05-18.
  5. ^ a b Harvard School of Public Health. The Nutrition Source - Fats and Cholesterol. Retrieved on 2008-05-18.
  6. ^ A. Keys, J.T. Anderson, F. Grande, Serum cholesterol response to changes in the diet. IV. Particular fatty acids in the diet, Metabolism 14, 776-787 (1965).
  7. ^ R.P. Mensink, P.L. Zock, A.D.M. Kester, M.B. Katan, Effects of dietary fatty acids and carbohydrates on the ratio of serum total to HDL cholesterol and on serum lipids and apolipoproteins: a meta-analysis of 60 controlled studies, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 77, 1146-1155 (2003).
  8. ^ a b NutriStrategy (2005). Fats, Cooking Oils and Fatty Acids. Retrieved on 2008-05-18.
  9. ^ D.W. de Bruijne, A. Bot, Fabricated Fat-based Foods, in: Food Texture - Measurement and Perception (editor A.J. Rosenthal), Aspen, Gaithersburg, 1999, pp. 185-227.
  10. ^ http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/
  11. ^ Müller et al. (January 2003). The Serum LDL/HDL Cholesterol Ratio Is Influenced More Favorably by Exchanging Saturated with Unsaturated Fat Than by Reducing Saturated Fat in the Diet of Women. Retrieved on 2008-05-18.
  12. ^ Hu, Manson, Willett (2001). Types of Dietary Fat and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease: A Critical Review. Retrieved on 2008-05-18.
  13. ^ Jeppesen et al. (2001). Low Triglycerides–High High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol and Risk of Ischemic Heart Disease. Retrieved on 2008-05-18.
  14. ^ W.C. Willett, M.J. Stampfer, J.E. Mason, G.A. Colditz, F.E. Speizer, B.A. Rosner, L.A. Sampson, C.H. Hennekes, Intake of trans fatty acids and risk of coronary heart disease among women, Lancet 341, 581-585 (1993)
  15. ^ F.B. Hu, M.J. Stampfer, J.E. Manson, E. Rimm, G.A. Colditz, B.A. Rosner, C.H. Hennekens, W.C. Willett, Dietary Fat Intake and the Risk of Coronary Heart Disease in Women, New England Journal of Medicine 337, 1491-1499 (1997) http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/337/21/1491
  16. ^ K. Hayakawa, Y.Y. Linko, P. Linko, The role of trans fatty acids in human nutrition, Journal of Lipid Science and Technology 102, 419-425 (2000)
  17. ^ The Nurses' Health Study (NHS)
  18. ^ M. G. Enig, Trand- Fatty Acids in the Food Supply: a comprehensive report covering 60 years of research., Silver Springs, MD, Enig Associates, 1993.
  19. ^ E. Flöter, G. van Duijn, Trans-free fats for use in foods, in: Modifying lipids for use in foods (editor F.D. Gunstone), Woodhead, Cambridge, UK, 2006, pp. 429-443.
  20. ^ G. van Duijn, Technical aspects of trans reduction in modified fats, Oléagineux, Corps Gras, Lipides, 12, 422-426 (2005)
  21. ^ See e.g. P.S. Anand et al, J. Dairy Res. 71, 66-73 (2004)
  22. ^ Cleveland Clinic. Butter vs. Margarine. Retrieved on 2008-05-18.
  23. ^ Jane Hurley, Bonnie Liebman (December 2001). Better than Butter?. Retrieved on 2008-05-20.
  24. ^ Katan et al. (2003). Efficacy and Safety of Plant Stanols and Sterols in the Management of Blood Cholesterol Levels. Retrieved on 2008-04-08.
  25. ^ IFIC (July 2007). Functional Foods Fact Sheet: Plant Stanols and Sterols. Retrieved on 2008-04-08.

[edit] External links

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v • d • e
Edible fats and oils
Fats
Butter • Bacon grease • Cocoa butter • Dripping • Ghee • Lard • Margarine • Niter kibbeh • Salo • Schmaltz • Shea butter • Smen • Suet • Tallow • Vegetable shortening
Oils
See also: List of vegetable oils • Cooking oil