What is margarine made of?

Answer 1

Margarine (pronunciation: mar-jar-in), 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 many regions people commonly refer to margarine as butter in informal speech, but (at least in the United States) laws forbid food packaging to refer to margarine as "butter". Recipes sometimes refer to margarine as oleo (see below) or as shortening.

Margarine today

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 substitute for butter which is both vegan and pareve.

In terms of microstructure, margarine is a water-in-oil emulsion, containing dispersed water droplets of typically 5-10 µm diameter. The amount of crystallising 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 mono-unsaturated and polyunsaturated fats contribute relatively little to the amount of crystalline fat in the product. Mono- and poly-unsaturated 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 The Trans fat issue).

Three main types of margarine are common:

* Hard, generally uncoloured margarine for cooking or baking, which contains a high proportion of animal fat. (shortening)
* "Traditional" margarines for such uses as spreading on toast, which contain a relatively high percentage of saturated fats and are made from either animal or vegetable oils.
* Margarines high in mono- or poly-unsaturated fats, which are made from safflower, sunflower, soybean, cottonseed, or olive oil, and which are said to be healthier than butter or other types of margarine.

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" comprise a significant portion of the table spread market. The forerunning product "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," 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.

[edit] Nutrition

[edit] The trans fat issue

Conventional margarine contains a much higher proportion of trans fats than butter. Because research shows a correlation between diets high in trans fats and coronary heart disease, margarine has come to be perceived by many as unhealthy. Others argue that margarine remains healthier than butter, because butter's higher saturated fat content poses a greater hazard than margarine's trans fats. In response to trans fat concerns and government demands for labelling, margarine manufacturers are making and selling new varieties that contain less or no trans fat. In particular, tub margarine is sometimes lower in trans fat than stick margarine, but tub margarine is usually too soft to be suitable for baking.

Answer 2

80-90% vegetable oil, water, salt, coloring. There are some (cheaper) margarines that are made with animal fat.

The more solid the margarine, the more hydrogenated oils. these fats are worse for you than butter. So the healthier margarines are, the softer and more liquid they are.

Answer 3

Vegatabe oils

Answer 4

trans fat!!!!!!
you dont want this stuff in ur tummy
horrible for you
just use real butter
but remember
a little goes a long way
real butter has more and better flavour
Eating trans fat increases the risk of coronary heart disease

Answer 5

Hydrogenated vegtable oil. Really bad, but really good.

Answer 6

get similar stuff with omega oils in it, or spreads that use olive oil, much healthier.

Answer 7

hydrogenated oil

Answer 8

oil,vitamin d., antioxidants,color,flavor, benzoic acid.

Answer 9

plastic, seriously