Ethan Trex
The Surprisingly Interesting History of Margarine
by Ethan Trex - August 31, 2010 - 9:55 AM

How well do you know your margarine history? Let’s take a look at the origins of the butter substitute, and the dairy lobby’s attempts to defeat it.

Where did the name “margarine” originate?

In a chemist’s lab. French scientist Michel Eugene Chevreul discovered a new fatty acid in 1813 that he dubbed acide margarique. Chevreul’s discovery contained lustrous, pearly deposits, so he named it after the Greek word margarites, for “pearly.”

Did Chevreul take his margaric acid and head straight for the toaster?

Not quite. If you enjoy margarine, tip your cap to Emperor Napoleon III. Napoleon III saw that both his poorer subjects and his navy would benefit from having easy access to a cheap butter substitute, so he offered a prize for anyone who could create an adequate replacement.

Enter French chemist Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès. In 1869, Mège-Mouriès perfected and patented a process for churning beef tallow with milk to create an acceptable butter substitute, thereby winning the Emperor’s prize.

So Mège-Mouriès became the first margarine tycoon?

Far from it. Despite Napoleon III’s high hopes for Mège-Mouriès’ product, which the scientist had dubbed “oleomargarine,” the market didn’t really take off. In 1871, Mège-Mouriès showed his process to a Dutch company that improved on his methods and helped build an international market for margarine. The Dutch entrepreneurs realized that if margarine were going to become a substitute for butter, it needed to look like butter, so they began dyeing margarine, which is naturally white, a buttery yellow.

Mège-Mouriès didn’t get a princely sum for his invention; he actually died a pauper in 1880. The Dutch company that improved upon his recipe did pretty well for itself, though. The company, Jurgens, eventually became a world-renowned maker of margarines and soaps and later became a part of Unilever.

How did the dairy world react to margarine’s sudden popularity?

They were predictably more than a little irked. Butter was big business, and the notion that a cheaper substitute, even one made in part with milk, might storm the market terrified dairy farmers. They didn’t take the threat lying down, though, and convinced legislators to tax margarine at a rate of two cents per pound—no small sum in the late 19th century. Dairy farmers also successfully lobbied for restrictions that banned the use of yellow dyes to make margarine look more appetizing. By 1900, artificially colored butter was contraband in 30 U.S. states.

Several states took even more extreme measures to turn consumers away from margarine—they required the product to be dyed an unappealing pink color.

Wow, that’s pretty stringent. Did other countries enact similar restrictions?

If you think taxes and dyes are tough, then the Canadian government’s anti-margarine campaign seems downright draconian. From 1886 until 1948, Canadian law banned any and all margarine. The only exception to this rule came between 1917 and 1923, when World War I and its aftermath left butter in short supply and the government temporarily gave margarine the thumbs up.

Margarine didn’t necessarily have an easier time after the ban was relaxed, either. Quebec’s strong dairy lobby ensured that rules against dyeing remained in place in the province until 2008.

Was there any way around these color restrictions?

Sure. It sounds almost laughable now, but if you wanted to eat margarine on your toast without having to stare at its natural white color, there was a solution. As the coloring restrictions became widespread around the turn of the 20th century, margarine producers accepted that they couldn’t dye their wares yellow. There was no reason why they couldn’t simultaneously sell consumers margarine and yellow dye, though. When you bought a block or tube of margarine, you also got a packet of food coloring that could be kneaded into the margarine by hand.

What helped margarine stay competitive with butter in the face of these restrictions?

More restrictions, of course. Paradoxically, the pure foods movement of the 1920s helped undermine natural butter and elevate the status of margarine. In 1923 Congress passed a law that made it illegal to add any other ingredients to butter, even additives that would help make the butter more spreadable.

As any toast aficionado knows, margarine is a heck of a lot easier to spread than butter. Suddenly, butter makers couldn’t tweak their products to make it easier to slather on breakfast, but margarine manufacturers could. Margarine’s popularity skyrocketed.

Margarine also got a bit bump from World War II. When wartime butter scarcity forced consumers to switch to margarine, lots of margarine holdouts realized that the improved product wasn’t so bad after all. In 1950, the U.S. government repealed the heavy margarine tax, and the market continued to grow as individual states reversed their bans on colored margarine. The last state to repeal the ban on dyes? You guessed it: Wisconsin. America’s Dairyland didn’t allow dyed margarine until 1967.

More from mental_floss…

Fordlandia: Henry Ford’s Ill-Fated Foray Into the Brazilian Jungle
*
WTF? Initials That Meant More Than They Realized
*
Over the Rainbow: The Technicolor Life of the Man Who Created Oz
*
Oh, the Places Your Ashes Will Go!
*
22 Fictional Characters Whose Names You Don’t Know
*
31 Unbelievable High School Mascots

twitterbanner.jpg

shirts-555.jpg

tshirtsubad_static-11.jpg

« Previous Post   -   Next Post »
Click here to get a Risk-Free issue of mental_floss magazine
Comments (52)

  1. Slight correction: margarine is easier to spread *when cold*, but butter, I think, is much easier to spread at room temp, and can be left at room temp for a good while (several days or longer in its salted form*) to keep it ready to use (thus, the butter dish). Butter is better.

    *Unsalted butter, not so much. The salt really does help preserve it. Unsalted butter will go rancid and grow icky things at room temp over a week.

    PS. Please do an article on the wonders of salt. It used to be a very important commodity before refrigeration.

    posted by steph on 8-30-2010 at 10:38 pm

  2. When I was a kid, and even now, I hated being in the kitchen doing anything….So, when Mom brought the margarine home my one job in the kitchen was to sit on a stool as she prepped dinner and smoush the little red dot in the center of the clear plastic ‘bag’ in which the white margarine was sold. It took lots of time (I wonder why) for me to ‘mix’ in the red dot so that the margarine was a perfect yellow. Then I got to shape it into the butter dish.

    posted by M. Forrest on 8-30-2010 at 11:34 pm

  3. We always have both in the fridge because my boyfriend grew up in a strictly margarine household while my folks were butter only!

    posted by Lynnie on 8-30-2010 at 11:49 pm

  4. I’m pretty sure the statute of limitations is over, but my parents “bootlegged” oleo (for personal use, of course) from Iowa. We lived in La Crosse, WI, and it was only about 30 miles by state highway down to New Albin, IA, where colored oleo was legal. Some of my earlier memories are of the whole family loading up in the Chevy and driving down, picking up a couple of cases of oleo, and bringing it back and sharing it among the rest of the relatives.

    Even today, the old grocery building still stands in New Albin, and one can still see an old but still very legible sign on the side facing the road, assuring Wisconsinites that oleo was available at that location.

    -”BB”-

    posted by Bicycle Bill on 8-30-2010 at 11:50 pm

  5. My dad has also told the story of mixing the color into his family’s margarine. I knew dairy had an agenda against margarine but didn’t realize why there was the food coloring issue.
    Also explains why my one grandma always calls it oleo (“olee”) instead of margarine.

    posted by Amanda on 8-31-2010 at 1:01 am

  6. @ Steph, try using a Butter Bell to increase the out of fridge life of your Butter.
    http://www.butterbell.com/

    posted by Ben on 8-31-2010 at 4:31 am

  7. I grew up in a strictly margerine household as well. I know everyone says that butter tastes better, but I’ve had a single, lonely stick of butter sitting in my fridge for maybe over a year. I always just buy one of those huge tubs of Country Crock. It’s cheaper, easier, healthier, and tastes just as good (although a little different). Margerine is the way to go.

    posted by Red Bunny on 8-31-2010 at 8:03 am

  8. I prefer real butter myself. I don’t care if it is harder to spread, it tastes better… or at least, in my head it does. It reminds me of my childhood, eating toast at my grandmother’s… she had a fancy silver butter dish she always sat out on the table… we could have as much as we wanted. That’s why I love real butter. :D

    posted by Heather on 8-31-2010 at 8:28 am

  9. I grew up on margarine and liked it just fine until I married into a butter only family. Now I find margarine on toast just tolerable in comparison with a pat of salted butter. Yum…. now I know what’s for breakfast!

    posted by Erika on 8-31-2010 at 9:25 am

  10. I would so rather spread pretty white margarine on my bread than that sickly yellow crap. Butter’s the best though!

    posted by sasha on 8-31-2010 at 10:04 am

  11. I would never chose margarine over butter and never will. Nothing beats real butter.

    posted by Emma on 8-31-2010 at 10:16 am

  12. I didn’t know margarine wasn’t butter until I was 15. My family always just called it butter. Nowadays, I don’t touch margarine.

    posted by GregIII on 8-31-2010 at 11:27 am

  13. I’m with the butter lovers–it really is the best. And personally, I think it is healthier. In my experience, butter has much more flavor than margarine and therefore much less is required to flavor a dish or even toast. While margarine has fewer calories per serving, I don’t use nearly as much butter as I would margarine and come out the same or better calorie-wise. Not to mention the fact that butter isn’t loaded with preservatives and artificial ingredients.

    I am so craving a slice of homemade bread with a little pat of butter right now.

    posted by Elle on 8-31-2010 at 11:36 am

  14. I’ll bet people who only eat real butter also think a tall glass of whole milk is refreshing.

    posted by Phil on 8-31-2010 at 11:40 am

  15. I don’t know how to account for this, but my British husband is a full on margarine fan. As a matter of fact, when I lived in the UK with him, I noticed that butter isn’t particularly popular at all. Every home seems to have large tubs of marge in their fridge. They are a sandwich making people, and mayo seems to only just be catching on over there. I suppose that has something to do with it.

    Anyway, before I was married, I never touched the stuff. Now, I can’t imagine having a marmite roll without a nice lashing of margarine.

    posted by Alice on 8-31-2010 at 11:44 am

  16. @Phil-Why yes, I do think a tall glass of whole milk is refreshing. What, pray tell, is your point?

    posted by Nora on 8-31-2010 at 12:07 pm

  17. @elle: Hey, you raise a good question. Which is really healthier? Butter or margerine?

    posted by Red Bunny on 8-31-2010 at 12:13 pm

  18. http://www.dietbites.com/body-fat-files/butter-vs-margarine.html

    If I remember right, back in the 60-70′s when I was a kid, margarine was suppose to be the ‘wonder food’ that was bad for you.

    Damn hippies.

    posted by Discot on 8-31-2010 at 1:08 pm

  19. I grew up on a dairy farm on the Canadian Prairies, so it was butter all the way in our household. I couldn’t imagine using margarine on my corn on the cob or any vegetable for that matter. I remember a trip out to Quebec and seeing the white margarine – total turn-off. It looked like lard.

    I remember passing a recipe off to one of my coworkers and her asking me what a stick of butter was. I told her that you could buy butter in a one-pound package or in four sticks. She said her butter came in a tub. YIKES! She was 24 and had no idea she had been eating margarine all this time. She didn’t know the difference between butter and margarine either; she just assumed they were synonyms.

    posted by Ranger J on 8-31-2010 at 1:16 pm

  20. I grew up on margarine (dyed, MA is not a particualrly dairy state) and switched to butter in my 20s. (My mom, in her 80s, had to switch to margarine in WWII and never went back to butter, mostly because of thespreading issue.) I’d never go back–butter just tastes better and is less greasy, oddly enough. (I can no longer stand to drink a tall glass of milk, however.)

    posted by Cathy J on 8-31-2010 at 2:51 pm

  21. Really thank you. …i didn’t even know that margarine and butter were two different things ^^

    posted by mya67 on 8-31-2010 at 2:51 pm

  22. bring on the buttah!

    posted by Anna on 8-31-2010 at 3:42 pm

  23. I keep both in my fridge. I use the butter for baking and the margarine for everyday cooking and eating.

    posted by Andi on 8-31-2010 at 4:47 pm

  24. Do people not realize how bad margarine is for you? It’s full of hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils which are terrible for you. So, no, margarine is not healthier for you than butter. I’ll take a real, whole food (butter) over a processed one (margarine) anyday.

    posted by Sara on 8-31-2010 at 5:20 pm

  25. I like this debate! I grew up in a Margarine house I think mostly because it is sooo much cheaper. Both parents grew up in post depression/WWII rationing era so butter was not an affordable option and thus the norm (we also used a lot or REAL lard not the crap from the store). I also married into a butter family and after some adjustment will never go back.

    On the health front, Marg WAS totaly toxic until recently with better control of trans-fats. Now if you research the better marg made of good veg oil such as sunflower, etc may be better for you than the sat fat/cholesterol in butter. In short, to be healthy limit either, to be happy slather your fat of choice on everything!

    posted by SDK on 8-31-2010 at 5:57 pm

  26. Margarine is horrible for you and should not be eaten anyway. Yet no mention of this in the article?

    Butter is a whole food and is healthy in moderation.

    posted by Erty on 8-31-2010 at 6:01 pm

  27. When I was at the Wisconsin State Museum last fall, I saw a T-shirt with a quote from a piece of legislation that is still on the books today. I don’t remember it exactly, but it said that it is illegal in WI to serve a “butter substitute” in a restaurant or use in in the making of food for sale unless it is specifically requested by the customer.

    posted by Mary on 8-31-2010 at 6:28 pm

  28. Adding to what Erty said, Margarine is sinister.

    It is made entirely of hydrogenated fats. These fats do not occur in nature so our body does not react well to it. It is far worse than the saturated fats you get in butter – despite the calorie content per serving.

    Hydrogenated and partially-hydrogenated oils have a synergistically bad effect on your health by raising the bad cholesterol (LDLs) and lowering the good cholesterol (HDLs).

    Butter = Better

    posted by n2y2 on 8-31-2010 at 6:43 pm

  29. Bumper sticker observed addressing said spread debate: “I’d rather eat butter than margarine because I trust a farmer more than a chemist.”

    posted by Kim on 8-31-2010 at 6:45 pm

  30. Like many who commented, I grew up on margarine. (My grandma also called it – and still calls it – oleo, which was a source of confusion for young me. I thought that was a third option for my toast.) But nowadays, I won’t touch the stuff. And reading this article only cemented my disgust for it. ‘Beef tallow and milk?’ Ick! It’s real, unsalted butter in all my cooking endeavors, no matter how big or small.

    posted by Jill on 8-31-2010 at 10:00 pm

  31. @Phil – what’s your point???

    posted by denise on 8-31-2010 at 10:08 pm

  32. @denise he’s referring to the fact that whole milk is laden with fat.

    I, however, would much prefer to have real salted butter over any kind of margarine. I grew up in WI and we always had a stick of butter under a lid on the counter. Butter just had better flavor than the other stuff. I do like a tall glass of milk, but no longer drink whole milk. Any milk less than 2% tho tastes watered down.

    posted by onegomoo on 9-1-2010 at 8:28 am

  33. Actually I don’t think margarine is necessarily any deadlier than butter. Neither one of them is particularly healthy. Margarine is artificial and I don’t like the flavor at all, so I stick with butter (which usually has just 3 ingredients).

    Moderation is the key.

    posted by Aaron on 9-1-2010 at 10:58 am

  34. Aaron, margarine is worse. Butter only increases your LDLs where hydrogenated fats (margarine) both increases the LDLs while lowing the HDLs. It does so much more damage to the body.

    Food should start at a farm, not a chem lab.

    posted by n2y2 on 9-1-2010 at 10:05 pm

  35. That was quite interesting. How horrible that those who are the real discoverers of things are left destitute or unknown. On another note, I love that the word draconian was used; it’s one of my favorite words. Yeah, Wisconsin!

    posted by Pip on 9-2-2010 at 2:01 am

  36. I never tasted margarine until my teens. Honestly I like both. I prefer butter if I’m basically eating it straight, like on popcorn or dipping something in it, but margarine is fine with me too. I can taste the difference, I just don’t care either way. Heck, I love whole milk, but I’m happy drinking skim too. It’s not like better or worse to me, just different flavors. But I’m a weird person when it comes to food. I would only drink light cream instead of milk if I could get away with it, it’s so much “creamier” tasting than any milk.

    posted by Sarah on 9-2-2010 at 2:50 am

  37. I see I’m not the only one whose job it was to sit on the kitchen stool and knead the little red dot (I called it a ‘belly button’)of food coloring evenly into the margarine. I grew up in southern Minnesota, and my family also got the stuff from some friend or neighbor who smuggled it back from Iowa in the trunk of their car. Fun times, fun times….

    posted by Mama9cats on 9-3-2010 at 1:04 pm

  38. The dairy industry was the first to use the government as a bludgeon against it’s competitors. They got what they deserved when the government intervened against them.

    Government should keep its big fat nose out of such things.

    posted by Tom on 9-3-2010 at 4:31 pm

  39. Margarine is full of trans-fats. Hydrogenated vegetable oil. Causes inflammation and heart disease. It’s not a real food, get it out of your diet. There are some fake margarines that don’t have it in it, but you have to read the ingredients label.

    Most butter is not very good tasting. If it is white/light in color it comes from poor cows that live in a barn all year. If you find some nice yellow colored butter, get it. You won’t be disappointed.

    posted by jankdc on 9-4-2010 at 11:19 am

  40. Actually, if your butter doesn’t have colour added, you will notice that winter butter is always more pale than summer butter, because there is no fresh grass to eat.

    posted by lex911 on 9-4-2010 at 7:32 pm

  41. Even though it’s going out of favor now because of hydrogenated fats, there are two small niche markets that rely on margarine: vegans and those who keep kosher. In strict kosher practice, meat and dairy have to be separate, so you can’t eat butter at a meal where meat is also served.

    posted by Theresa on 9-4-2010 at 11:52 pm

  42. I love real butter, salted preferably. I can relate to those who say butter for baking, marge for toast, as I lived that way for a while. My gf only does marge, so we’ll have both in the fridge.

    And for the record, I can’t stomach anything more than skim milk, when I can even drink milk.

    posted by Richard Y on 9-5-2010 at 1:40 pm

  43. A month or so ago on a doctor show they said margarine was also made with plastic!!!! I eat only butter anyway!!!!!!!!

    posted by Nancy Plotz on 9-5-2010 at 2:05 pm

  44. My mom was raised on a dairy farm, but both oleo and butter were in the house, probably due to the Depression and then rationing in WWII and margarine just became another staple on the table. My mom then went on to use margarine at our family table as I was growing up. With my own family, we’re a butter family. It’s the rare occasion when I buy margarine, and regret the few dollars and/or cents that I save. Butter comes from a cow, margarine does not. Easy choice.

    BTW, unsalted butter is really only best for baking. Salted butter increases the salt content in your recipe, so why add more than is needed?

    posted by shirleyfeeney on 9-6-2010 at 2:48 am

  45. We were a mostly butter household. Marg would sometimes end up in the fridge… my grandmother liked it. But I never really cared for the taste at least when making toast.. it melted so weird too.. in my opinion, lol.. and found it horrible for trying to coat a pan as the oil and water would seem to separate. Well, that was until Smart Balance came along.. it passes both toast test (melting and taste) as well as coating a pan test. I still prefer butter for my toast though…. man I really want some toast now.

    posted by Dazee on 9-6-2010 at 4:22 pm

  46. For those who think butter is bad and vegetable oil substitutes are better, check out:
    http://www.marksdailyapple.com/

    posted by Sara on 9-9-2010 at 5:52 pm

  47. have never seen nor tasted butter in Africa(Kenya) butter is for wealthy few only sold in countable outlets, i would love to taste butter i only know one thing MARGERINE!

    posted by mulevu on 10-24-2010 at 4:02 am

  48. I can’t believe so many people still believe the lie that margarine is better for you than butter!

    The only reason I kept margarine in the house before I discovered a butter bell was for toast. Now there’s no reason at all for me to ever touch margarine.

    Frankenfood: always the worst choice.

    @Theresa I never thought of that! Good point.

    posted by Margaret on 11-3-2010 at 4:11 pm

  49. I hate to burst a few peoples bubble here but maybe some folks need the definition of “whole Food” butter is not a whole food =(

    posted by jennifer on 4-5-2011 at 8:14 pm

  50. I equate margarine with american cheese. Why eat fake when you can have real.

    posted by Arlington on 4-5-2011 at 11:09 pm

  51. I wonder if women with breast implants prefer margerine over butter…

    posted by Johnny Canuck on 5-19-2011 at 8:02 pm

  52. I prefer NOT to eat plastic fat. Definitely not healthy. Butter is a natural product and easily digested in the body, plus it just plain tastes better. Of course everything in moderation. GO BUTTER!!

    posted by Connie on 9-17-2011 at 10:43 am

Comment

commenting policy