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Around The Kitchen
, Food for Thought
by karen on October 28, 2006

What do you have on your toast, butter or margarine?
Well, butter of course! But I am no margarine hater either. There's a small tub of it in my pantry. I use it now and then for summer picnic cookies that will go under the hot sun.
There's an old e-mail hoax still going around about margarine originally made to fatten turkeys and turned out to be toxic. Here's part of it:
Now for Margarine, very high in trans fatty acids triple risk of Coronary Heart Disease, Increases total and LDL ( This is the bad Cholesterol), Lowers HDL cholesterol and this is the good one, Increases the risk of cancers by up to five fold, lowers quality of breast milk, decreases immune response, and decreases insulin response.
And here is the most disturbing fact......
Margarine is but one molecule from being PLASTIC..... (This fact alone was enough to have me avoiding margarine for life and anything else that is hydrogenated, this means hydrogen is added changing the molecular structure of the food.)
A quick check at Snopes.com, the repository of urban legends reveals this to be clearly a hoax although that part about higher risk of cardiac arrest has a bit of truth to it.
Read and go over the article, it has figures to debunk what's circulating. Here's an excerpt:
Contrary to the claim, margarine was not invented as a turkey fattener. It was formulated in 1869 by Hippolyte Mège Mouriès of France in response to Napoleon III's offering of a prize to whoever could succeed at producing a viable low-cost substitute for butter. Mège Mouriès' concoction, which he dubbed oleomargarine, was achieved by adding salty water, milk, and margaric acid to softened beef fat. By the turn of the century, the beef fat in the original recipe had been replaced by vegetable oils.
Remember, not everything you receive in your inbox is the truth!
Permalink: Butter vs. Margarine Hoax
Trackback: http://publish.creative-weblogging.com/publish/mt-tb.pl/40940
Mr Wong
Vote for Butter vs. Margarine Hoax:
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Rating: 6.29 out of 14 vote(s) cast.
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Response from:
Emma
(11/02/06 5:35pm)
Response from:
stef
(11/27/06 1:10am)
in the US there's a healthy margarine people can use -- trans-fat-free -- by earth balance and smart balance. vegan too. there's also an organic version.
Response from:
Jeremy_MICH
(02/19/07 5:03pm)
from what I've read plastic refers to a term used by the hydrogenated oil industry to decribe the end result of turning a liquid oil into a partially
solid gunk... it not acutally palstic but...
and BTW margarine can be have almost no trans FAT as the FDA defines it in triglyceride form. but margarine can could be 30% or more trans fatty acids, in the form of mono and diglycerides. and still be labeled 0 grams trans fat. but wheter it has trans fat, or mono & diglycerides its still bad for you heart, unless anyone can prove me wrong.
fact: margarine = water and mono & diglycerides as an emulsifyer and fat. where to do mono and dyglycerides come from??? the FDA doesnt care. hence that is what the plastic or plasticiztion refers to in regards to margarine.
solid gunk... it not acutally palstic but...
and BTW margarine can be have almost no trans FAT as the FDA defines it in triglyceride form. but margarine can could be 30% or more trans fatty acids, in the form of mono and diglycerides. and still be labeled 0 grams trans fat. but wheter it has trans fat, or mono & diglycerides its still bad for you heart, unless anyone can prove me wrong.
fact: margarine = water and mono & diglycerides as an emulsifyer and fat. where to do mono and dyglycerides come from??? the FDA doesnt care. hence that is what the plastic or plasticiztion refers to in regards to margarine.
Response from:
Jeremy_MICH
(02/19/07 5:06pm)
earth balance is definately trans fat free. but even after using earth balance for 2 years I've gone back to butter.. and coconut oil for frying and Sauteing I think its healthier
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Living a healthy lifestyle includes eating moderate amounts of various types of foods. The margarine industry has been in the forefront of reducing the amounts of trans fat, and adding more functional ingredients to its products to support health. I've been working with the National Association of Margarine Manufacturers so I've learned a lot about this particular topic. In addition, heart disease runs in my family so I have a personal interest in the subject as well. Check out the links below for more information:
http://www.margarine.org,
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/transfat.html#choice1
and
http://hp2010.nhlbihin.net/cholmonth/q_a.htm.