Margarine

Podcast Transcript

In the mid-19th century, the French Emperor Napoleon III requested the creation of a product similar to butter but cheaper.

The result was dubbed margarine.

Over the years, the ingredients that made up margarine changed radically, all the while becoming closer to butter in both looks and consistency.

However, it has faced resistance almost its entire life, and at times it was outright banned.

Learn more about margarine, why it was created, and its odd history on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

I’m sure that all of you are familiar with margarine. Margarine is, and was designed to be, a substitute for butter. Modern margarine looks, behaves, and in some cases, tastes like butter, but is made out of totally different ingredients.

If you remember back to my episode on butter, the origins of butter date back to antiquity. It was probably discovered accidentally when milk was shaken up to churn it.

Butter served humanity well for thousands of years. It was natural and extremely easy to make.

So, why was there a need to make a butter substitute at all?

The story of margarine begins in the 19th century.

In 1813, the French chemist Michel Chevreul was studying animal fats and isolated what he believed to be a new fatty acid. The crystals of this substance had a pearly, lustrous appearance, so he named it “acide margarique” from the Greek word meaning “pearl.”

Later research showed that his “margaric acid” was actually a mixture of other fatty acids, but the name stuck around.

Nothing really happened for another fifty years.

In the late 1860s, France faced a shortage of butter. Emperor Napoleon III offered a prize for a cheap, stable spread for the navy and the poor.

In 1869, the French chemist Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès won the prize with his invention, which he dubbed “oleomargarine.” It was a blend based on beef tallow, refined by emulsifying the fat with skim milk, which improved the taste and texture, making the product commercially viable.

He secured a patent in the United States, and his invention quickly spread beyond France.

This is the first surprising thing about margarine. It was originally created with beef tallow, not with seed oil. This is probably a shock to many people because the whole point of modern-day margarine is that it is made with plants, not animals.

Here, I should note why there was any demand for oleomargarine in the 19th century in the first place, considering that butter existed and was readily available.

It all had to do with cost.

Across most of the 19th century, beef tallow generally sold for much less per pound than table butter.

At a 1896 London auction, fine beef tallow fetched about 20 shillings per hundredweight, which works out to approximately 2.1 pence per lb. Contemporary British butter prices for ordinary institutional buyers were commonly about 9 to 13 pence per lb, and could be higher for premium households, several times the tallow price.

So, the popularity of margarine was simply due to cost. It was much cheaper than butter, allowing more people to consume it, and governments to spend less on supplying it to their troops.

I should also note that the margarine sold at this time was white, not yellow. In fact, the margarine you can buy today is naturally white and only looks like butter because of added food dyes.

By the 1870s, margarine production had begun in the United States, with factories opening in New York.

The early 20th century brought a technological breakthrough that would fundamentally transform margarine production. In 1902, German chemist Wilhelm Normann patented the hydrogenation process, which allowed liquid vegetable oils to be converted into solid or semi-solid fats.

I covered this in my previous episode on seed oils, explaining that the hydrogenation process allowed cottonseed oil to produce Crisco, the first artificial shortening.

This innovation proved revolutionary for margarine manufacturers, who had previously relied primarily on animal fats like beef tallow and lard. Hydrogenation made margarine even cheaper to produce, improved its consistency and shelf life, and gave it a texture more closely resembling butter.

The shift from animal fats to vegetable oils accelerated rapidly in the following decades. Manufacturers began using cottonseed oil, soybean oil, corn oil, and other plant-based oils as their primary ingredients.

The First World War marked a turning point in the social acceptance of margarine. Butter became scarce and expensive as agricultural production shifted to support the war effort, and international trade was disrupted.

Governments actively encouraged citizens to consume margarine as a patriotic duty, framing it as a way to conserve valuable resources for soldiers at the front.

Millions of families who had never purchased margarine before suddenly found it on their tables. While many initially resented the substitution, the extended period of use during and after the war created new habits and reduced the stigma associated with margarine consumption.

Working-class families, in particular, discovered that margarine allowed them to stretch their food budgets further. The war years demonstrated that margarine could serve as a legitimate alternative to butter rather than merely an inferior substitute for the poor.

During the 1920s and 1930s, margarine manufacturers continued improving their products. Flavor chemistry advanced, allowing producers to create margarine that more closely mimicked butter’s taste.

Better emulsification techniques improved texture and mouthfeel. Vitamin fortification began, with manufacturers adding vitamins A and D to compensate for the nutrients naturally present in butter.

The Great Depression unexpectedly boosted margarine sales as household budgets tightened dramatically. Families that might have preferred butter simply couldn’t afford it, and margarine became a necessity rather than a choice for millions of people. This widespread adoption during hard economic times further normalized margarine consumption across social classes.

The Second World War proved even more transformative for margarine than the First World War had been. Butter rationing was stricter and lasted longer, and margarine production ramped up dramatically to meet civilian needs. The federal government actively promoted margarine consumption through propaganda campaigns, and military commissaries stocked it extensively.

By the war’s end in 1945, margarine had become a fixture in American kitchens. Millions of people who had been forced to use it during rationing discovered they actually preferred it, or at least found it perfectly acceptable.

More importantly, an entire generation of children had grown up eating margarine and lacked their parents’ prejudices against it. The psychological barrier had been broken.

The 1970s and 1980s represented margarine’s golden age. Per capita consumption reached all-time highs, surpassing butter in many countries. Supermarket shelves were filled with dozens of margarine brands and varieties.

Beyond standard margarine, manufacturers introduced soft spreads, diet margarine with reduced fat content, and premium varieties claiming superior taste.

Marketing became increasingly sophisticated. Television commercials featured doctors endorsing margarine’s heart-healthy properties. Print advertisements emphasized scientific terms like “polyunsaturated fatty acids” and “cholesterol-free.”

Some brands positioned themselves as lifestyle products for modern, health-conscious consumers. The subtext was clear: smart, informed people who cared about their health chose margarine over old fashioned butter.

The 1990s brought a devastating revelation that would shatter margarine’s health reputation. Researchers discovered that the hydrogenation process, which had made modern margarine possible, created trans fatty acids as a byproduct. These trans fats, it turned out, were potentially worse for cardiovascular health than the saturated fats everyone had been trying to avoid.

The early 2000s saw a frantic effort to reformulate margarine products without trans fats. Manufacturers reformulated their recipes, sometimes multiple times, seeking the right balance of texture, taste, and health profile.

Labels began prominently displaying “0g Trans Fat” or “Trans Fat Free” claims. Some brands dropped the term “margarine” altogether, rebranding as “spreads” or “buttery spreads” to escape the negative associations.

Regulatory pressure intensified. In 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration determined that partially hydrogenated oils, the primary source of artificial trans fats, were not “generally recognized as safe” for use in human food.

The agency gave manufacturers until 2018 to remove them from products or petition for special approval. Many other countries implemented similar restrictions or outright bans on trans fats.

Today, margarine occupies an ambiguous position in the food landscape. Traditional margarine brands continue to exist and maintain loyal customer bases, particularly among older consumers who grew up using the product and those for whom price remains the primary consideration. Modern formulations are free of trans fats and often fortified with omega-3 fatty acids, plant sterols, or other compounds marketed for health benefits.

In this discussion of the history of margarine, there is something I haven’t yet mentioned. The war on margarine, which began almost immediately after its creation, still exists to some extent today.

The United States Congress passed the Oleomargarine Act of 1886, defining butter and taxing oleomargarine at two cents per pound. In 1902, an amendment to the act imposed a heavy tax on yellow-colored margarine, while lightly taxing the uncolored kind, to keep it from resembling butter on the table.

Margarine manufacturers got around this by bundling yellow dye with the margarine that consumers could mix themselves.

Canada completely banned margarine production from 1886 to 1948.

Many European countries and Australia also placed various restrictions on margarine well into the 1960s.

Perhaps the most extreme reaction against margarine occurred in my home state of Wisconsin.

For those of you who don’t know it, Wisconsin is known for its dairy industry. All of our license plates say “America’s Dairyland.” Its sports fans are known as cheeseheads.

When margarine appeared in the 1870s and 1880s, Wisconsin dairy farmers and butter producers immediately recognized it as a threat. Here was a product that looked like butter, could be used like butter, but cost significantly less.

If margarine gained widespread acceptance, it could devastate the market for Wisconsin butter and undermine the economic foundation of rural Wisconsin. The dairy industry’s response was swift and uncompromising: margarine had to be stopped.

Wisconsin began its anti-margarine campaign in 1881, becoming one of the first states to regulate the new product. The initial law required margarine to be clearly labeled and prohibited manufacturers from coloring it yellow to resemble butter.

This was just the opening salvo.

In 1895, Wisconsin took a far more aggressive step, enacting legislation that banned the manufacture and sale of margarine colored to look like butter. The law imposed heavy fines and even prison sentences for violators.

But Wisconsin’s dairy lobby wasn’t satisfied with mere color restrictions. They pushed for something far more draconian: a complete ban on margarine. The argument they made to legislators was both economic and moral.

Economically, they claimed that margarine was undermining honest dairy farmers who worked hard to produce genuine butter. Morally, they characterized margarine as fraudulent, deceptive, and unwholesome, an industrial impostor trying to pass itself off as a natural, wholesome product.

In 1895, Wisconsin became one of the few states to ban margarine entirely. The law prohibited the manufacture, sale, and even possession of margarine with the intent to sell within state borders. This wasn’t simply a regulatory measure; it was an attempt to eradicate margarine from Wisconsin completely.

The ban created an enforcement challenge. Wisconsin shared borders with several states where margarine was legal, and smuggling became inevitable. Residents living near state lines would cross into Illinois, Iowa, or Minnesota to purchase margarine and bring it back.

My grandparents did this. I can distinctly remember my grandmother telling me about the oleo runs they used to make to Michigan. They wouldn’t just buy a little bit either. They bought loads of margarine to bring back for friends and neighbors.

The ban became especially awkward during the wars, when Wisconsin had banned the very thing that the federal government was telling people to consume.

The ban finally ended in 1967, making Wisconsin the last state to legalize margarine sales.

However, there are still margarine restrictions in place in Wisconsin to this day. Any food purchases made by the state for institutions like prisons or hospitals can only serve margarine if requested.

Likewise, butter still has to be served at restaurants by default. You can get margarine, but you have to ask for it specifically.

I’ll close by noting an even longer hold out than Wisconsin: the province of Quebec which didn’t legalize yellow margarine until 2008.

Margarine has had a very odd journey since its creation in the 19th century. It’s been reviled and also encouraged. It’s been considered healthy and then unhealthy. Its sales have gone up and down. It’s been both cheap and expensive, and it’s even been made out of both animal and plant fats.

The entire journey began when Napoleon III wanted a cheap butter alternative for the people of France.