Has margarine fallen out of fashion?
Posted by MadameDePom@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 402 comments
I never hear of anyone using it anymore but I’m sure in the 90s and 00s, it was as popular, if not more-so, than butter.
Do any of you use it over butter? If so, why? Not a criticism, genuine curiosity following on from the sandwich topic.
Saw_Boss@reddit
I swear I'm going insane.
"Nobody buys it", "it's gone out of fashion"
Have none of you ever been to a supermarket? Of course is still there in large amounts and clearly still sells perfectly well. Are you all thinking Flora or Bertolli are butter?
Raisinsandfairywings@reddit
I prefer butter but have switched to buying margarine as I simply cannot afford to be buying butter all the time. Pretty much everyone I know though always means margarine when they say butter anyway.
Orri@reddit
There seems to be a social media trend right now demonising anything that isn't animal fat, not sure if that's making him believe they're out of favour.
olivinebean@reddit
It's the Americans new talking points leaking over.
Eating twice the recommended amount of protein for no reason has also become popular but I think that's due to ozempic people needing to make their small means count for more.
IfYouRun@reddit
The ridiculous protein in everything craze is just the latest health food fad, this time aimed at fleecing people who gym twice a week and think it’ll make them look like Arnie.
olivinebean@reddit
If they actually knew what they were doing, they'd realise that seasoned food and actually lifting heavier weights would work.
But yeah, spending more money on protein yogurts seems easier than the effort I guess.
N-F-F-C@reddit
In order to build a lot of muscle you do need to eat more protein. You can’t just lift heavier without protein and you can’t just protein without well… progressive overload (not necessarily heavier)
The NHS guideline minimum amount of protein isn’t for serious lifters
crankyandhangry@reddit
Sure, but most people aren't serious lifters. Even most people who go to the gym 3 or 4 times a week aren't serious lifters. Most adults dont need more protein from a nutritional point of view, even if they started lifting moderate weights.
N-F-F-C@reddit
Not sure about this
I’ve been eating high protein for over a decade during gym heavy phases and protein “infused” foods were never not readily available
IfYouRun@reddit
Yeah but now every food has “PROTEIN” in massive letters, you’re getting versions of food popping up with an absolutely negligible amount of added protein in for like 20% more money. It’s 100% a fad right now, and there is some science behind it of course, but I feel it’s badly understood by the public.
Buddy-Matt@reddit
This is why I've stopped using butter and now only spread lard on my sandwiches. Gotta stay up with the trends.
olivinebean@reddit
It's the Americans new talking points leaking over.
Eating twice the recommended amount of protein for no reason has also become popular but I think that's due to ozempic people needing to make their small means count for more.
Appropriate_Wave722@reddit
I feel like a lot of people do think this, on Reddit at least. The amount of well-upvoted "blech I'd never eat margarine, it's disgusting, only butter for me" comments doesn't make any sense
Groxy_@reddit
There are no way that is a common topic of conversation on Reddit.
YarrlieThePirate@reddit
Jamnut is right… uk based reddits are an awful echo chamber, another bad one is coop salt and vinegar crisps.. I think it’s aggressive marketing to be honest No one ever mentions them without going CORRR THEY BLEW MY TASTE BUDS TO DEATH AND THEN BURNED MY TONGUE RAW THEYRE THAT STRONG
… they’re not strong, they’re overpriced and rather bland
Also uniqlo clothes look shit there I said it
Sidian@reddit
For me, it's yorkshire tea. Just isn't that good imo, quite bland. Redditors go wild for it though.
jamnut@reddit
Same for anything in the UK subreddits
Safety razors Uniqlo/M&S clothing Ocafo delivery Fentimans squash or whatever ANYTHING with sweeteners
Etc etc
lilcheese840@reddit
Fentimans are grim. They sell them at work, thought I’d give one a go… disgusting drinks. Rather drink pool water
josiejgurl@reddit
Those aren’t margarine
lastMETALfinal@reddit
I thought margarine isn't spread, and spread isn't margarine, and neither of them are butter
Historical_Owl_1635@reddit
Fine, I’ll be the honest one.
Yes. I don’t know the difference between them all and frankly I don’t really care to.
SuzLouA@reddit
Taking one for the team there mate, because honestly, I have only ever bought supermarket own brand that just says BUTTER on the side, and if you’d asked me casually hey, do you know where the butter is, I would definitely have pointed to Flora et al without thinking. I think I knew Olivio wasn’t butter because it is basically called “Olives!” but everything else is just butter in my mind.
That being said, I knew margarine was still kicking because all my vegan and veggie friends both eat and cook/bake with it. So I’ve no excuse really.
DameKumquat@reddit
Flora no longer sell solid hydrogenated marge, only softer spreads that aren't substitutes for butter in baking. I don't think Bertolli ever did a solid product.
Appropriate_Wave722@reddit
have you ever tried using them as a substitute? it works fine ime
sock_cooker@reddit
Yeh, I much prefer Flora Buttery for baking
blueroses8000@reddit
Yes for some of my cakes it turns out way better with it rather than proper butter. I thought I was being silly but I tried it so many times and the result was undeniable.
DameKumquat@reddit
Not recently, but a couple decades ago I gave up on them for pastry and started using butter - the texture was all wrong. Fine on toast, but not for baking.
anabsentfriend@reddit
Flora do a block that's really good for baking.
Paulstan67@reddit
No but they aren't margarine either.
tannercolin@reddit
What are they? I've always been under the impression that any spreads that aren't butter fall into the margarine category.
Mundo7@reddit
this isn’t an either or situation 😂
Paulstan67@reddit
They are spreads. The reason is because margarine needs a minimum of 80% fat content.
LargePlums@reddit
I can’t believe it’s not
togtogtog@reddit
They just market it differently these days.
They all would have been called 'margarine' at one time.
FiveYardFaded@reddit
The marketing works judging by the posts in this thread.
Southern_Recover_435@reddit
It is really impressive isn't it, everyone's calling out what they use; plant based spreads, flora, olive spread like they aren't just margarine. They are all vegetable oil based spreads and even the spreadable butter is just butter mixed with vegetable oil based spread.
60svintage@reddit
True. But a lot of margins until the 70s were often manufactured from whale oil before being totally phased out.
DameKumquat@reddit
They aren't like the old margarines - hard margarine vanished almost overnight when there was the health scare - soft margarine was renamed 'spread' immediately and there was a huge increased in water-added spreads as well as ones with more oil, but it's really hard to find marg with the solidity of butter now.
LlamaDrama007@reddit
Stork is maybe the closest? It's what my aunt who bakes a lot, uses.
Silver-Appointment77@reddit
Yes. Its all my Mam used for baking. Nothing else.
81misfit@reddit
You can still get it. They refer to it as baking block - ie stork that goes solid for making pastries etc.
Flora did do one too recently they called ‘vegan butter’ it tasted like baking block (shit)
n3m0sum@reddit
It wasn't just a health scare.
It was proven that the partial hydrogenation used to solidify margarine, produced trans fats. Which they already knew. The new information was that trans fats were directly responsible for decreasing good cholesterol, while increasing bad cholesterol. Directly leading to more clogged arteries, heart attacks and strokes.
Modern spreads have significantly lower fat content, and usually use fully hydrogenated fats, that eliminated trans fats.
PM_ME_AGARICOMYCETES@reddit
I don't think that's true of all spreadable butter. For example President spreadable uses cream instead of vegetable oil.
Prajnamarga@reddit
If marketing didn't work, they'd be doing something different by now. Capitalism is a very demanding dominatrix.
seklas1@reddit
Exactly. Because I read the post and was like “I don’t remember when was the last time I actually had butter”. All mine are margarines with a different tag on them.
togtogtog@reddit
Marketing is like evolution. Stuff that makes more money gets kept, stuff that makes less profit gets shed. Over time, things get fuller and fuller of spin.
It's quite impressive!
I look at the supermarket, and just how many aisles are full of very well marketed, ultra processed food, promising high protein, vegan, one of your five a day, convenient, delicious nutrition.
FiveYardFaded@reddit
I meant the amount of people saying something along the lines of
“Margarine is disgusting, I only use olive spread”
togtogtog@reddit
Oh yes - I understood that. :-)
n3m0sum@reddit
Not quite, margarine must have at least 80% fat, and can be animal fat or vegetable fat. The old style margerine was a better direct substitute than butter in baking, due to that 80+% fat, and more if it was animal fat.
The real problem was the fact that margarine used partial hydrogenation to solidify the product. This resulted in the production of harmful trans fats that did the health damage.
Most of those products that you have lists are advertised as healthier, because they have less than 80% fat, making them more spreadable. And they are vegetable based. Hence why they are specifically vegetable spread and not (potentially animal fat) margarine.
More importantly, they use fully hydrogenated oils, or naturally solid vegetable oils (like palm or coconut), to solidify them. So while they might have saturated fats, they lack the much more unhealthy trans fats that traditional margerine had.
togtogtog@reddit
Wow! You've had me reading The Margarine Regulations 1967
eggmayonnaise@reddit
I feel like I'm having a stroke reading this comment. Are there extra syllables added by mistake or are the terms just that ridiculous?
togtogtog@reddit
Whoops! I do think I accidentally added an n and e! And some spaces! and an ni. I only copied and pasted it! Hmmmm... weird, but I like it.
GoldFreezer@reddit
We are the redditors who say... NI!
togtogtog@reddit
NI!
pervertsage@reddit
Oh! What sad times are these when passing redditors can say ‘Ni’ at will to old ladies.
togtogtog@reddit
We want... a shrubbery!
One that looks nice. And not too expensive. And another slightly higher so you get the two-level effect with a little path running down the middle.
GoldFreezer@reddit
I am Roger... The Shrubber
Dnny10bns@reddit
Hmm, yummy.
Oozlum-Bird@reddit
So basically paint, then?
This reminds me of the time I went down a bit of a rabbit hole when I found out they make bio plastics out of casein after I’d eaten a particularly rubbery cheese.
Dnny10bns@reddit
Sounds horrific, whatever it is. Shifted to butter blocks a number of years ago because of the taste. But still eat junk occasionally. Partial to a take away pizza or doner kebab. Or a moody, cold saveloy. Better not to think too much about what's in those. 😂
Oozlum-Bird@reddit
I can fully relate to your need to combine proper butter with the occasional dodgy sausage
Defiant_Put_7542@reddit
Interestingly, the oldest paint in the world has been found to be casein based - made from human breast milk, and about 9,000 years old if i remember correctly.
Oozlum-Bird@reddit
Yum, cheesy walls!
Thanks for the fun fact though, I’ve learned something today 🙂
EmmaInFrance@reddit
Casein knitting needles and buttons have been around for about 100 years.
happyhippohats@reddit
Also 'spreadable butter' (aka butter mixed with oil) has become a big part of the market and fixes one of the main advantages 'margarine' previously had over real butter.
Gisschace@reddit
Yes Flora is now marketing itself as ‘plant based’ when it’s been margarine forever
NighthawkUnicorn@reddit
Yep we use Tesco Buttery Spread as it's really nice and spreadable. My in laws used a different margarine that inhalated the bread every time
rageofa1000suns@reddit
Came to say this.
Margarine is just slapped with a different name these days. Even normal 'Spreadable' butter like Lurkpak is basically half margarine unless you buy it in blocks.
Defiant_Put_7542@reddit
It's not.
Margarine is hydrogentated vegetable oils. Simply adding unadulterated vegetable oils to butter does not make margarine.
rageofa1000suns@reddit
100 veg oil Vs 50% veg oil.
Seems pretty much half margarine to me.
AvatarIII@reddit
It's the process not the ingredients that separate them.
n3m0sum@reddit
That's because you don't appreciate the nutritional and health difference between vegetable oil, and a hydrogenated vegetable oils. Especially if the hydrogenated vegetable oil has particularly unhealthy trans fats.
TheNotSpecialOne@reddit
Ah on that explains it.
lesterbottomley@reddit
And collected together they way outnumber the butters in every supermarket I go in.
togtogtog@reddit
I remember going to the USA in the 1980s and being absolutely shocked by the sheer quantity of spreads and butters - a whole aisle's worth! Nowadays, that is just normal here. I remember when we had little supermarkets, and you could get either a tub of Blue Band or some Anchor butter, or a block of lard.
ThisIsMyRedditAcct20@reddit
My partner is vegan. We use Flora. It’s definitely not butter and arguably more buttery
Weewoes@reddit
Doubt.
ThisIsMyRedditAcct20@reddit
Oh I don’t mean that positively. It’s over compensating. I use small amounts
LeTrolleur@reddit
I was raised eating margarine (specifically flora) on bread, and now that I have my own adult money it'll never be spent on the stuff, I'd actually rather eat dry bread tbh.
Melodic-Tutor-2172@reddit
It’s horrible that why!
ShineAtom@reddit
As far as I'm concerned if it is a butter-like substance marketed as a "spread" or "plant-based butter" then it is margarine. On the plus side they no longer make it out of whale fat. About the only plus I can think of.
I use butter, dairy butter. I found those alternatives aka marge to be unpalatable. One reason is that I do not like the oils they are made out of aside from olive oil.
LunaWabohu@reddit
I'm vegan so I eat it
Electronic-Stay-2369@reddit
I sometimes have to buy "proper" margarine as I have to deal with too many dairy allergies these days. They are ususally the cheapest ones as well.
JocastaH-B@reddit
I'd love to eat butter but I'm lactose intolerant and even lactofree butter affects me so I have plant based spread. Luckily these days they've improved the flavour vastly.
crankyandhangry@reddit
What are your top recommendations? I like to have a dairy free spread in the fridge for my vegan/dairy intolerant visitors.
JocastaH-B@reddit
Naturli and Flora plant butter
poxelsaiyuri@reddit
Same if I ate butter it would pass straight through me so rely on plant based spreads instead (it was a gateway to vegetarianism as found i would just eat vegan food while out as knew they where safe)
Robynellawque@reddit
Yes I eat plant based spread too .
But to be honest I don’t barely eat it as I don’t eat sandwiches so it’s just there for the very occasional toast .
Asleep-Hat-8615@reddit
eat butter. natural you will feel better.
tonytown@reddit
Yes, barely anyone names their child Margarine anymore. A shame really.
xxx654@reddit
As soon as I found out it is grey before they add food colouring that was a no for me.
yawstoopid@reddit
Its also linked to a rise in dementia.
E420CDI@reddit
I forgot about that
DameKumquat@reddit
More white. In parts of America they weren't allowed to colour marg yellow so as not to upset the dairy industry, so in the 1950s they sold it with a capsule of yellow dye. My mum had to mix it all in!
soundman32@reddit
The American dairy groups also wanted it to be coloured blue when it was first introduced, so it wouldn't be confused with butter.
MadameDePom@reddit (OP)
I am both not surprised and quite repulsed by that image.
thelajestic@reddit
Eh. I buy trex for baking (depending on what I'm baking - it's great for icing and for light/airy sponges) which is just vegetable fat, and it's a big off-white lump. It actually looks quite nice - when doing icing I whip it up first before adding the sugar and it actually looks quite tasty despite just being whipped fat 😅
WotanMjolnir@reddit
Aldi do an 'Excellent for Baking' margarine that I use for muffins - it's actually yellow though. I was very sniffy initially, thinking that the fact there is no actual dairy in it would make for very oily / greasy cakes but it is wonderful, and so much more convenient when trying to cream it with sugar than trying to warm butter up and inevitably just melting or burning it.
AvatarIII@reddit
It's not, you're probably mixed up with the fact they sometimes made it blue with food colouring.
mimic@reddit
Butter often has colouring too, along with the biological matter that comes with it being an animal product.
SuzLouA@reddit
Grey is over egging it a bit, it’s not cement-coloured, it’s just not yellow. Afaik it just looks like lard.
MoreLimesLessScurvy@reddit
Yup, delicious natural butter > dyed, ultra processed shite
Ok_Compote251@reddit
Much rather processed vegetable oils than the puss filled coagulated breast milk of an abused female cow.
You see I’ve actually weened off the tit, like an adult.
transfuse@reddit
As much as I agree with you, you're not helping us by being a twat about it.
Oozlum-Bird@reddit
‘Pus’
vher4ch@reddit
Yeah I think people are widening up. I came to say the same thing! Always when I was younger was margarine but in my own household it’s either we buy a real stick of salted butter or we don’t buy it at all
Dirk_McAwesome@reddit
Butter also gets dyed yellow - its natural colour varies a lot depending on time of year, the cows diet, etc and it's often very pale.
Pikmanpikman@reddit
Grey?! 😱😱😱
n3m0sum@reddit
It's not grey, that's hyperbolic bullshit.
It's just a white to slightly off white opaque fat product.
orange_fudge@reddit
Yeah, just sort of an off white colour, like the fat you get on the side of a roasting tin.
Suspicious-Water-973@reddit
Never look at the production method…
I’d rather have olive spread or just a lot less butter
PiotrGreenholz01@reddit
Olive spread should be green surely? Or black.
FiveYardFaded@reddit
I’ve got some bad news for you about olive spread..
Suspicious-Water-973@reddit
Oh well more butter for me. I quite like making it at home. Takes minutes and very inexpensive if you find double cream on offer.
baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaab@reddit
Is it the put it in a coffee jar and shake method? Do you salt it? I’d like to try, please reveal all. And also tell me how to make butter.
Suspicious-Water-973@reddit
Here you go
Ice water is very important
Aware_Ad_431@reddit
Yes but don’t tell everyone!!!!
PiotrGreenholz01@reddit
I read somewhere that it used to be dyed pink because butter manufacturers didn't want it to be mistaken for butter. I hope that's true.
BertieBus@reddit
We use it because my sons allergic to butter. Don't ruin it for me. I do have a tub of nice butter which is allllll mine.
Auntie_Cagul@reddit
The butter replacement spreads are not called margarine. Margarine is a totally different product.
We use Flora for spreading and butter for baking / cooking.
oldie349@reddit
This word brings back an old memory.
Raised by a smoking mother who had no sense of taste or smell, every morning my breakfast was white sliced bread toasted and slathered with margarine. So far so mediocre. But the marg was a mega large tub, because that was cheapest, and had gone off before being used up. Rancid margarine. In case you can’t imagine, it was foul, and the taste took a while to dissipate.
Connell95@reddit
Once they made spreadable butter, the reason for its existence pretty much disappeared
MaximumTop6714@reddit
Which butter is spreadable?
Bskns@reddit
The butter I keep in my butter dish on the kitchen counter
doctorace@reddit
…for at least half the year
AutomaticInitiative@reddit
Where I live it's only too hot for about 2 weeks of the year
doctorace@reddit
I meant that it’s solid when it’s too cold. My kitchen is terribly insulated.
Artistic-Variety5920@reddit
But it's not spreadable straight from the fridge!
Blows my mine how many people can't comprehend a butter dish at room temperature.
GrumpyOlBastard@reddit
Well in our apartment here in warm Victoria, BC, Canada, butter left on the counter does not spread anymore. They've done something to the cows' feed that makes the butter remain firm at room temperature. It's not spreadable on bread and if you have a recipe that calls for soft, room temperature butter it needs judicious microwaving to get it soft enough
Artistic-Variety5920@reddit
Oh wow is there anything more perilous than microwaving butter? 8 seconds solid, 8 seconds and 27 milliseconds liquid....
GrumpyOlBastard@reddit
I use 20% power in 10 second bursts. It's tedious but it works
Bskns@reddit
I cut a small block off the main block so the rest can stay in the fridge. It can go a little funky if left out for too long and I don’t use it that quickly.
Dnny10bns@reddit
I warm a knife on the hob and hold it flat against the top of the butter sliding it downwards onto bread as I hold the block in my hand (in wrapping). It shaves a nice bit off. Do that two or three times with the right heat and you have spreadable butter. I can't eat spreads so I had to perfect this. My house is too cold for a butter dish. Toast? Just spread a few lumps on it and leave for 30 seconds. The heat warms it enough to spread.
Connell95@reddit
Spreadable butter
OldManChino@reddit
Not butter butter, but those half and half abominations like lurpack spreadable
ScentedSyphillis@reddit
I always use Countrylife butter which is incredibly spreadable
Southern_Recover_435@reddit
Guess what they add to it to make it spreadable?...... Margarine! The most spreadable have the largest percentage of vegetable oils which is what Margarine uses.
rosywillow@reddit
Not President spreadable, which is butter with added cream and absolutely no vegetable oils. Ingredients: butter, milk, salt, milk cultures.
QGRr2t@reddit
M&S Salted Softer Butter is pure butter and salt, and spreads straight out of the fridge. The larger 500g tub is only a few quid and lasts ages. Delicious!
https://www.marksandspencer.com/food/salted-softer-butter/p/fdp20119326
autobulb@reddit
My understanding is that spreadable butter without any other added ingredients is basically whipped/beaten to incorporate air to make it less dense and thus spreadable even when cold. You're still getting the same weight in butter but it costs more, so if the texture is really worth the extra 1.25 then cool, or you could just leave a block of regular salted butter outside of the fridge so that it's always softened and ready to go. Depends on your butter usage, I guess.
MaximumTop6714@reddit
This is what I was looking for a proper recommendation that isn’t half and half! I will give the president spreadable a try. Thank you
AllOfficerNoGent@reddit
This is what we use too. It’s a fucking fortune but 100% worth it. For baking my husband just uses the cheapest butter block from Sainsbury’s
Artistic-Variety5920@reddit
Holy shit thanks that's me sorted for winter!
Southern_Recover_435@reddit
Great rec, I'll give that a try
Defiant_Put_7542@reddit
In margarine the fats are hydrogentated, which makes said vegetable oils far more unhealthy. Adding the unadulterated oils to butter is not then same thing.
Connell95@reddit
No they don’t, that’s just completely false – there’s zero margarine in spreadable butter.
Dnny10bns@reddit
There's vegetable oil in spreadable butter.
It's called 'blended spread'. It's precisely why I won't eat it. Butter tastes different. On mine it says ingredients are 'butter', 'salt'. That's it.
Connell95@reddit
Vegetable oil isn’t margarine
Mundo7@reddit
they don’t add margarine…they add vegetable oil!
because margarine is mostly veg oil does not make everything that uses oil, use margarine as well 😂😂😂
a3diff@reddit
Spreadable butter 1. Isn't spreadable, its a lie! And 2. Is only like 10% butter. So also a lie! That being said I quite like lurpack spreadable but only when its warmed up so is actually a bit spreadable.
Connell95@reddit
Are you putting your Lurpak Spreadable in the freezer or something? I take mine out the fridge and spread it instantly on toast every day.
It’s 65% butter. If you make things up they will be lies, yes.
a3diff@reddit
No, maybe my fridge is too cold, and every other fridge ive taken it out of ever. But it always ruins bread and even toast when spread straight from the fridge. Maybe you confused your fridge for an oven? And the 10% mix might be a different brand, but the point still stands, none of the spreadable butters are actually just butter.
Connell95@reddit
If your fridge is at the recommended 3-5° it spreads incredibly easily. Definitely a you problem.
a3diff@reddit
Like I said, its happened in lots of fridges, so I call BS!
Connell95@reddit
Nobody else has this problem. It’s definitely a you issue.
CunningOctopus@reddit
But "spreadable butter" is only partially butter. I leave mine out of the fridge (except in really hot weather) so it's always spreadable
Connell95@reddit
It’s 65% butter. That’s a fine balance between taste and spreadability. I like full butter too for certain things, but the balance between convenience and taste of spreadable butter is good – and certainly miles better than margarine.
orange_fudge@reddit
Spreadable butter literally is margarine mixed with butter.
Connell95@reddit
No it isn’t. There’s zero margarine in spreadable butter.
PigletAlert@reddit
Yes, I think we’ve moved on from “butter is bad for you”. Marge had its heyday when everyone was terrified of fat.
Ok_Compote251@reddit
Butter is bad for you. It’s absolutely not a health food. Margarine isn’t either, but it’s slightly healthier than butter.
PigletAlert@reddit
I never said it was a health food. Lots of butter is bad for you of course. But your body needs fats, and small amounts of butter is fine as part of a balanced diet. I thought we were past demonising foods.
heartpassenger@reddit
Depends if your definition of “healthy” depends entirely on fat content, or on factors like how ultra processed something is. I consider butter and full fat options to be healthy in moderation and won’t eat low fat or ultra processed “products”.
Ok_Compote251@reddit
Ultra processed ≠ unhealthy
For example a multivitamin is ultra processed. Not unhealthy. It’s an unhelpful blanket term that simplifies nutrition. There’s more to it than just that. Plant based butters (margarine) are healthier than butter, ever so slightly. Both in moderation.
heartpassenger@reddit
Honestly, I disagree, but that’s why I said it depends what healthy means to you. I personally avoid industrially ultra processed “food products” and would consider a multivitamin to be an exception to that rule if I needed to take one. Which I don’t, because my diet is rich in nutrients and whole foods.
AnonymoseHoratio@reddit
Was a cheaper version of butter during war time. Kept on being used as it was cheaper. Now it's considered very unhealthy
Suspicious_Banana255@reddit
I use it, flora, as I think it's healthier
EUskeptik@reddit
Clever marketing - and lots of it - made consumers believe polyunsaturated margarine was healthier than butter. Turned out it wasn’t.
-oo-
TheCurlyOne28@reddit
Just use block butter. It's probably healthiest form to cook with and eat. It's natural with no added crap or oils to make it spreadable.
scotiaboy10@reddit
I dont touch the stuff, salted butter for the win
djwillis1121@reddit
In the 90s and 00s the big evil in food was fat, saturated fat in particular.
Now the big evil is ultra processed food, which margarine is.
Weewoes@reddit
I use a spreadable butter, it acts like margarine but isn't. I think there is a lot of these on the market now.
Weewoes@reddit
Why is this downvoted lol. Its called golden cow. Search it up.
Chefchenko687@reddit
Margarines popularity relied on price and the fact it was marketed as being much healthier than butter. Turns out it was actually really pretty bad for you, and that butter was in fact the healthier option in a number of ways.
tuni31@reddit
I hear this a lot in the UK. The fact that you guys were made to actually believe butter is healthier is one of the greatest marketing successes I have ever witnessed.. 😂
redseaaquamarine@reddit
It is tons healthier - it is natural. In the US, though, I expect that there are chemicals added.
MageGen@reddit
This is genuinely fascinating to me.
What makes something "natural"?
We take a large mammal - not our species - and raise them at scale. We (industrially) take the fluid produced by that mammal (evolved to feed its young, as with all mammals), and we (industrially) churn it all up until we're left with some fatty solids. We then call that "butter". And apparently, it's "natural" and therefore "better".
redseaaquamarine@reddit
I am answering from a factual point of view and ethics are another story!!
I am weighing butter up against margarine and looking at ingredients. This is purely from the view that butter has one ingredient: milk. Whereas marge is made in a factory. With autoimmune diseases it is best to not eat anything processed, so I always look at food that way.
MageGen@reddit
I didn't make any ethical arguments; I am just stating facts about how butter is "naturally" produced. I also did not make any comparisons to margarine (but now I will!).
I am just asking you to define exactly what you mean when you say "natural", and to explain why that definition is meaningful for human health.
Also: - Why stop at "milk" being a single ingredient? It's made up of lots of stuff; mostly water, some calcium, fat, quite a lot of sugar, etc. - I guarantee you that 99.9% of all butter is also made in a factory.
redseaaquamarine@reddit
I explained what I meant by "natural" and also my experience of it being good for health. And don't feel like getting into a discussion. Thank you for your fascination 👍🏻
pgnlzbth@reddit
100%
pgnlzbth@reddit
You mean butter? It’s not ‘natural’. It’s made from cows’ milk. Cows milk is healthy for baby cows. It’s a miracle of marketing that we have been brain washed to genuine believe the breast milk of another species is ‘good for us’. But that’s a whole other subject…
DMDR_949@reddit
Wait till you hear how cigarettes were advertised in the US...
cottoncandymandy@reddit
And alcohol- it literally causes cancer but it was marketed as a good thing once upon a time.
n3m0sum@reddit
Butter was healthier than old school margerine, which no longer exists, as we legislated against trans fats that were the health problem in margerine.
Modern vegetable spreads are not the same product as margerine.
CunningOctopus@reddit
Because it is?
broken_freezer@reddit
Yeah a third of saturated fat compared to butter really makes it worse...
n3m0sum@reddit
The problem with margerine was that the partial hydrogenation used to solidify it produced lots of tens fats.
These had the double effects of raising the LDL (bad collesterol, as well as lowering the HDL (good) collesterol.
Just looking at the saturated fat numbers is completely missing the point.
All things in moderation, but if you are going to use a fat based product. Butter is better than old school margerine.
Which is not the same product as modern fully hydrogenated vegetable spread.
ImFamousYoghurt@reddit
Modern British margarine doesn’t tend be hydrogenated
n3m0sum@reddit
You are right.
I'm out of date. I was aware of the move to fully hydrogenated vegetable oils to remove trans fats. But the industry has moved in again. I have just learned about intersterification of fatty acids.
bigdogroundhere@reddit
No offence but maybe this could be an opportunity to brush up on your nutrition science.
“Saturated fat” is a generic term, and the reality is much more nuanced.
Recently the science seems to show that actually animal based products like butter are much, much healthier than industrial alternatives like margarine.
“What I’ve Learned” has some videos on this on YouTube which actually breaks down different nutritional studies and claims, and where these common myths come from, and explains how we now know red meat & animal fats are far healthier than we once thought.
Ok_Compote251@reddit
“What I’ve learned” is an industry plant who’s paid by the animal agriculture lobbies.
It’s the consensus that animal based saturated fat is bad for you.
Ok_Compote251@reddit
“What I’ve learned” is an industry plant who’s paid by the animal agriculture lobbies.
It’s the consensus that animal based saturated fat is bad for you.
acky1@reddit
What I've Learned isn't a nutrition expert and has his own biases. If you actually want the full picture you'd be better going to nutritional bodies that do the actual science and those that collate that science into recommendations. The recommendations are globally consistent that saturated fat should be limited. Everyone should be wary of YouTube content creators going against scientific consensus.
PipBin@reddit
Nothing that you can buy now really qualifies as margarine.
However lots of people use dairy free spreads. I think Stork is the only marg you can still get.
-XiaoSi-@reddit
I think Stork lives on purely through home bakers. I personally would never have margarine on my toast, but I do keep a tub of stork on the fridge when cake is required.
Weewoes@reddit
I just bought some stork for the first time in forever when my kid is being g tested gor lactose and I wanted to make a cake she could also eat.
burgermachine74@reddit
Cooking often means the lactose gets burnt off; I'm lactose intolerant and can eat things like baked cheesecakes
poxelsaiyuri@reddit
Stork contains dairy
Weewoes@reddit
No it doesnt.
poxelsaiyuri@reddit
The tub contains buttermilk
Weewoes@reddit
It literally doesnt..
PipBin@reddit
No it doesn’t.
IOnlyUpvoteBadPuns@reddit
I wish I had enough whimsy in my life that situations urgently requiring cake occurred frequently enough to justify keeping supplies...
DameKumquat@reddit
I call them Fridays...
orange_fudge@reddit
What do you see as the difference between margarine and a dairy-free spread?
PipBin@reddit
orange_fudge@reddit
OK but substantially they are the same - it’s hydrogenated oil mixed with butter.
Flora, the type without butter, is 70% fat. The companies know that people don’t like the term ‘margarine’ so they created products that are functionally the same, but below the legal threshold, so they can say it isn’t margarine.
PipBin@reddit
It’s not what I see as the difference, it’s a legal definition.
https://www.sainsburyarchive.org.uk/story/stories/butter-and-margarine#undefined
CrimsonCrinkle@reddit
Traditional margarine was made from hydrogenated oil which is particularly unhealthy.
orange_fudge@reddit
Olive spread is made from hydrogenated olive oil… it’s essentially the same process, modernised. The hydrogenation is part of the emulsifying process which allows it to be solid at room temperature.
The legal definition of margarine is min 80% fat, and the modern oil spreads tend to be around 70%
CrimsonCrinkle@reddit
You’re right, it is the partially hydrogenated oils that are the unhealthy ones.
turbo_dude@reddit
What’s wrong wi’ lard?
PipBin@reddit
Nowt. But it in’t margarine
Silver-Appointment77@reddit
I always use margarine. Normally morrisons own brand. And I like it. I have a couple of blocks of butter in my freezer i got from a charity incase I want to bake.
Prajnamarga@reddit
I use marg as part of my plant-based diet. Have done for decades.
restingbitchsocks@reddit
Just eat normal butter folks. Those ‘spreads’ are minging.
DrinkDontGetDrunk@reddit
I live in a static caravan so use margarine during the winter then swap back to butter when it warms up enough to not be trying to spread a solid!
Alternative-Kiwi1221@reddit
I hope so, margarine is disgusting and honestly just trash food
aspannerdarkly@reddit
I think the trans fat scare mostly killed it
NaniFarRoad@reddit
Margarine is the name for the hydrogenated oil, which was full of trans fats. These molecules could not be properly used by the body, so despite being digested, absorbed and ending up in our blood, they were then stuck, bouncing around for eternity.
Moderns spreads do it differently (non-hydrogenated, they use something called interesterification) so they're not called "margarines" - to avoid association with the bad stuff. See e.g. https://cfmws.ca/CFMWS/media/Halifax/other/HP_BestPractice_ButterVSMargarine.pdf
pgnlzbth@reddit
This answer should be pinned.
ImFamousYoghurt@reddit
Modern British margarine doesn’t tend to contain trans fat, whereas butter does
Disastrous_Fill_5566@reddit
Well, I would call it the trans fat evidence, rather than a scare. A scare implies there's nothing behind it other than some sort of herd mentality, when there's actually strong evidence that trans fats are really very bad for you.
spynie55@reddit
A long time ago I worked for Unilever, who made Flora and I can't believe it's not butter. At the time we genuinely believed butter and all dairy was a big contributor to heart disease and that polyunsaturated margarine was a big improvement and marketed it accordingly. I think it was in the early 2000s scientific studies started to indicate that butter wasn't actually that bad for us, (sugar and ultra processed foods are the big problem) and that trans fats were awful. To be fair to them the trans fats had been removed from Flora in the 1990s as soon as there was the slightest idea they might be bad, but Unilever have now sold the whole margarine business and exited the sector.
acky1@reddit
Saturated fat being a contributor to heart disease is still the consensus position, including dairy and butter.
If you check out nutrition guidelines they all recommend limiting saturated fat in favour of polyunsaturated fat.
Even the newest MAHA guidelines, imo the least scientific and most industry funded guidelines, with the marketing tagline of "ending the war against saturated fat", did not actually change the official recommendation to limit saturated fat to 10% of calories because of the legal implications of actually recommending it in official government documentation.
I think this is not a widely known thing and people are not aware of the link between saturated fat and heart disease which is why I bring it up.
spynie55@reddit
Yeah, sorry I definitely did not want to say saturated fat is a health food! I think in the 1990s people sort of imagined the cholesterol in butter going straight from your stomach to your blood stream and clogging up your heart, whereas now it's a more subtle link because it's so rich in calories and can affect how your liver processes cholesterol. Butter tastes really good though and I think is quite satisfying so you don't eat as much (potentially). I also like that the ingredients list on butter is so short and you don't need a degree in chemistry to understand it.
Ur_favourite_psycho@reddit
There's also evidence that margarine is very bad for you. I think butter is the lesser of two evils, tastes much better too.
Disastrous_Fill_5566@reddit
Absolutely. Margarine contains trans fats, but yes I should have said that there's also direct evidence against margarine specifically.
aspannerdarkly@reddit
Yes I didn’t mean to imply it was based on false premises but it suddenly became a very prominent issue of public concern
BuzzAllWin@reddit
That just another side of all this culture war bull shit
MadameDePom@reddit (OP)
I reckon so too and that it was going around that it has more in common with plastic than actual food.
DogTakeMeForAWalk@reddit
It feel out of fashion as soon as they did away with those lovely cartoon sunflowers.
No-Extension-2378@reddit
I used to use margarine all the time, then Tesco had salted Président butter on offer and I've never gone back.
pintofendlesssummer@reddit
Even butter tastes artificial now, the spreads are at least honest pretending to taste like butter.
LavenderAndHoneybees@reddit
My partner can't have cow's milk, so for ages I was baking with Stork or Flora, then we came across goat's butter and milk in the supermarket and have switched to that 🐐
5ubredhit@reddit
My mom uses it because it’s easier to spread compared to butter.
DeifniteProfessional@reddit
Normal people just leave butter in a dish on the kitchen counter tbh
Abject_Shoulder_2773@reddit
Still doesn't spread well
marktuk@reddit
In summer it does, in winter just put a piece in the microwave for 10-15 seconds.
escapingfromelba@reddit
That's what makes butter so good for the seller's, you use more in the colder months.
ryskwicpicmdfkapic@reddit
Never should have been in fashion in the first place. Thing’s dogshit at best.
Weird1Intrepid@reddit
I use it regularly because I'm poor and that's what the food bank gives out.
But I always get some Kerrygold on payday
Brido-20@reddit
God, no. Vile stuff.
I'd sooner gargle WD40.
BronnOP@reddit
It’s classed as an ultra-processed food these days - and is.
anchoredwunderlust@reddit
I use margarine coz the vegan versions usually are.
But it makes sense if butter is back in fashion. It usually tastes better and a lot of the benefits of margarine over butter were exaggerated due to overconsumption of butter and fat. But if you eat sensibly then butter is one of the better sources of those things compared with more processed spreads. So on balance if people prefer how butter tastes a lot of people will go for the more natural, less ingredients etc.
DyonisXX@reddit
It's fucking dogshit
tihomirbz@reddit
\^(i can't believe it's not) BUTTER
BUTTER\^(y spread)
myco_crazey@reddit
If it's in a plastic tub it's margarine/spread (includes lurkpak spreadable etc) if it's wrapped up in paper type stuff it's butter.
Margarine is more popular than ever, and it's worse for you than real butter.
tihomirbz@reddit
It's just they now call it
\^\^\^i \^\^\^can't \^\^\^believe \^\^\^it's \^\^\^not BUTTER
BUTTER\^\^\^y \^\^\^spread
pineappleshampoo@reddit
Much prefer margarine if it’s dairy free.
ElHubbo@reddit
Controversial opinion but i love Stork for everything
LzzrdWzzrd@reddit
Never bought it. I'm a lurpak person!
PutAutomatic2581@reddit
Only in the winter when it's too cold to use butter.
Hellolaoshi@reddit
I occasionally use butter. However, I think it is too expensive. At Christmas, I made my own Christmas cake and my own panettone, using margarine for both. I have little to complain about because the cake and the panettone were both very popular.
I know that pastry cooks and purists anwill complain that I did not make the panettone correctly. I used Morisson's yeast! But I was thinking of Tesco's version, not "panettone milanese."
Zealousideal-Soil-41@reddit
Whenever I buy margarine it goes mouldy in the fridge, every gel time, no matter how long I’ve had it for, why is this?
Terrible-Buy-9630@reddit
Because its whipped up vegetable/ rape seed oil. Its terrible for your health and tastes like shite.
horn_and_skull@reddit
Dairy allergy in the household so that’s all we use. The quality of margarine varies. Also all depends on what you’re using it for (to spread vs. baking etc.).
Mijman@reddit
Still more popular than butter
Junior_Apple2678@reddit
Butter is humanity's greatest achievement, reviled only by the roast potato. I don't underatand why anyone would replace it.
mohawkal@reddit
Actual margarine fell off as other spreads gained popularity. Olive, vegetable, spreadable butter, etc. Combined with the touted health benefits of the spreads vs what was widely understood to be a fully artificial foodstuff originally intended for bulking up livestock.
orange_fudge@reddit
Olive spread, plant based butter… these are all margarine. Spreadable butter is just butter mixed with margarine.
Alarmed_Cow_192@reddit
No they aren’t. In the UK, margarine is legally defined as containing a minimum of 80% fat. I can’t even think of a spread/block that has that level of fat.
A lot of spreadable butters have vegetable oil mixed in, yes. Which, again, is not margarine.
AneeMel@reddit
just good old fashioned butter for me. way healthier
DavidJonnsJewellery@reddit
A lot of the modern spreads like Clover or Utterly Butterly are actually margarine. They just market it differently these days. They also got better with the taste. Margarine spreads are also plant based, so are lower in saturated fat and cholesterol.
Alarmed_Cow_192@reddit
Except… they’re not. Margarine in the UK is legally defined as containing a minimum of 80% fat. Clover and Utterly Butterly don’t meet that requirement.
r_mutt69@reddit
When I was a kid my mam used to get the massive square tubs of margarine for our lunch sandwiches ( I had loads of siblings as well). I used to keep my matchbox cars in the used ones. As a grown up I can’t have anything other than real butter though.
PickOpposite1201@reddit
We bought a butter dish about 18 months ago, when the price of spreads spiked to about £8 a tub and have only used butter since, it tastes a lot better and is natural.
NoDrama430@reddit
The Butter vs. Margarine wars are over. Butter has officially won the battle for hearts and mind, and margarine has been relegated to the health halo of the 90s.
77HighOnYou@reddit
lol yeah this is kinda true
margarine had its whole it’s healthier era and then everyone just quietly went back to butter like nothing happened. i barely even see margarine in people’s fridges anymore unless it’s like baking or something random
Saw_Boss@reddit
So why are supermarket shelves full of it?
n3m0sum@reddit
They aren't.
Modern vegetable spreads are not the same as margarine.
Margarine must have 80+% fat, it could use animal fat, it also used partial hydrogenation that produced trans fats. The trans fats were raising bad cholesterol and lowering good cholesterol.
Vegetable spreads, only used vegetable oils, have far less than 80% fat (typically <60% but some have <40%, and importantly don't contain the really damaging trans fats.
Vegetable spread ≠ Margerine
Alarmed_Cow_192@reddit
Keep up the good fight 🫡
Lyrakish@reddit
I have to use it as I'm dairy intolerant. But I use Flora mostly.
LauraPa1mer@reddit
I use it because I can't afford butter, and margarine is always soft in the fridge.
YoullDoNuttinn@reddit
I can’t stand the stuff. It’s absolutely disgusting.
No-Reason-8205@reddit
I just use butter or olive oil.
kat0id@reddit
The smells makes me feel sick
No_Topic5591@reddit
I think "spreadable butter" (half butter, half rapeseed oil) has gained in popularity, and that's probably impacted the market for margarine.
I highly recommend the Morrisons own brand spreadable butter - tastes very good (high butter content and enough salt), spreads well and is very reasonably priced. It's much, much better than the stuff that doesn't contain any butter at all.
CapPsychological8767@reddit
do they still use whale oil in margarine?
anxiousthroway85@reddit
I was brought up on marge and then I learned how it came to be invented then realised that not even flies will touch the stuff….we only use butter now in our house.
MiserableSympathy230@reddit
Grew up on margarine and soya milk, cause we were vegetarian. Also Quorn for the win!
SheComesFirst24@reddit
As someone already pointed out, they're marketed/branded these days, so less obvious. But in answer to your question, the reason I moved back to actual butter is simply because it's not as processed and full of micro plastics and other unhealthy preservatives etc.
Marg is cheaper and usually easier to spread, but when you pay attention to the ingredients, butter is worth the extra pennies and hassle.
MrSmokii@reddit
can't do butter due to dairy allergy, so when i spread my bread, it's marge instead
fiddlewithyourwilly@reddit
I like stork margarine because I've only got one leg.
clustrexclipse@reddit
Margarine is full of bad ingredients. Butter is 1 ingredient so it’s healthier
musesparrow@reddit
I literally bought some today. Good for cakes!
Background_Bug1102@reddit
Butter. Or homemade “spread” I can use straight from the fridge made from butter whipped up either olive oil. Margarine is revolting.
MoleWhackSupreme@reddit
it’s Ultra Processed to hell and back I’m not surprised
srig8@reddit
I can’t believe that I can’t believe it’s not butter is better is better than I can’t believe it’s not butter.
Can you?
sharpied79@reddit
Butter, everytime...
Because, well, when you finally discover the sugar lobby demonising fats in the 1970's and 80's you realise just how bought and paid for TPTB are and that their "health" advice is a load of junk...
CattyKatKat@reddit
For the best sponge cakes you must use Stork or an own brand equivalent (Aldi's is good). I previously was snooty about using butter, but it just really isn't as good.
Vickyinredditland@reddit
We only have margarine because I don't eat dairy. Usually flora buttery.
Marshwiggletreacle@reddit
I remember Blue band margarine..I think it came in a double pack two small round tubs.
There were also large ice cream tub sized tubs of margarine.
If never get them now
mostly_kittens@reddit
You cannot buy margarine in the UK. Margarine has been replaced by various spreads made from vegetable oils. These do not qualify as margarine because they don’t have the required fat content. Also margarine tended to be full of trans fats which are not good for you.
MobiusNaked@reddit
Modern margerine is healthier. No trans fats or less hydrogenated oils
Feeling-Medium-7856@reddit
I think most dietary advice has moved on from it. I think it’s dreadful stuff tbf, real butter in this house (or olive oil ).
I do understand some folks need it if they have issues with cholesterol, although I almost wonder if that was me whether I would try and resolved those elsewhere in the diet. I hate the stuff, to me it tastes deeply unnatural.
LowAioli3870@reddit
Olive oil spread on toast is actually surprisingly nice!
cowbutt6@reddit
I think I'd try to use frozen olive oil, if I had to give up butter.
TazTazTAZTazTaz_@reddit
I haven’t bought margarine in 8+ years
Organic-Violinist223@reddit
I grew up and educated myself on this matter, and replaced margarine and butter with olive oil for a healthier diet
Upstairs-Balance9846@reddit
"popular"
For who? people who do not like butter? Why bother living life with margarine its nasty all the spreads are, they are so bad, nothing beats butter nothing ever will
My grandad used to make the most amazing toast, the butter was like 5mm deep, it was soo good, I can never reproduce his amazing toast and it pisses me off, its only toast.
As the butter melted away some parts went translucent - thats where you bite.
rip grandad 6 years now.
patrickb1920@reddit
Food technology has improved massively in the UK. Lurpak is so popular because it's a perfect balance between butter and margerine. I can have it on anything, toast, sandwiches, teacakes; it just goes with anything. At one time, this wouldn't have been possible to create so well.
Aggravating_Cloud657@reddit
Judging by how much of it is on the shelves, it's as popular as ever. I buy it because it's cheap and I don't use it/ butter a lot anyway.
Paulstan67@reddit
Margarine is not sold in the UK anymore. (Well I've not seen it in any supermarket for years).
Most of the spreads you see in the shops aren't technically margarine as they don't have enough fat content.
Dnny10bns@reddit
I can't eat it anymore. I changed to butter a number of years ago. Can't remember why. Tried things like 'I can't believe it's not butter', even 'Lurpack spreadable'. It's not the same. A heated knife resolves the destroyed bread problem. It's worth the extra money. It elevates sandwiches, toast and you can use it in cooking.
c3vito58@reddit
Filthy stuff....
ambiguousboner@reddit
Do you mean like Flora and Benecol etc? Because I’d say more people use it nowadays than ever before
Morganx27@reddit
I mainly eat Norpak (the butteresque spread from Aldi) on sandwiches etc., and generally have butter in for anything where it matters (baking, putting on potatoes, etc.)
I prefer pure butter taste wise but it's a hell of a lot more expensive, I can't leave it out on the side because I have a dog, and it's not as easy to spread on your toast even when it is warm.
Available-Snail@reddit
Yes I use it over butter, Flora margarine! It tastes nicer to me, and I grew up using it, and it’s lower calorie typically.
NewarkWilder@reddit
Butter is actual food, that comes from nature . Margarine shouldn't even get a look in.
pgnlzbth@reddit
I don’t know if marg really exists in the same way anymore… I use flora, which isn’t butter, contains no milk, so does that count? There are lots of dairy free spreads out there but I don’t know if they count as marg? Wasn’t true margarine hydrogenated veg oil, which, rightly, became very unpopular
N-F-F-C@reddit
Flora is a brand of margerine…
pgnlzbth@reddit
In which case yes, I use margarine. There’s absolutely loads of different brands of it on the shelves.
N-F-F-C@reddit
Correct
Entire thread is nonsense
marxistopportunist@reddit
Nobody reads the ingredients
Outrageous_Shirt_737@reddit
Yes, it has. That’s why everything is called “spread” now.
Time-Invite3655@reddit
We use it instead of butter due to dairy allergies. Flora, Can't Believe It's Not Butter etc are all dairy free thankfully for us.
retroheads@reddit
I knew somebody who went to a margarine factory years ago. He came home through all the marg in the bin and forbade his family from ever eating it again. He said the smell in the factory floor was so disgusting that he couldn’t believe it.
Available-Nose-5666@reddit
I still use it. It has and always will be my sandwich spread as well as toast.
aregularky@reddit
People call me weird for using margarine instead of butter, you know like on toast, crumpets etc.
Butter is too thick and rips the bread to shreds.
Margarine just glides across the surface.
VodkaMargarine@reddit
It pairs well with vodka
VirusWonderful5147@reddit
Most of the spreads nowadays have less than 80% fat content, which is required for something to be called a margarine. There are a couple of spreads that qualify but most are padded out with water and emulsifiers (cheaper).
You can still buy block margarine for cooking from catering suppliers. This is the real stuff - mostly for baking I think.
You should check out Canada's history with margarine. It was illegal for years.
D0wnInAlbion@reddit
I use it. It's low in calories and provides moisture without over powering the taste of the food it's on.
Experiment328095@reddit
Think a lot of people discovered what it is and how it looks before the dye is added 🤢 My dad is the only person I know who insists on Stork instead of butter
runrabbitrun42@reddit
I thought Stork was just for baking, I didn't realise anyone was spreading it on their toast!
bonshui@reddit
Definitely in my childhood. Olive spread in my 20s and 30s, then graduated to Lurpak. Just recently we started putting blocks of butter in an old fashioned butter dish on the kitchen counter. Absolute game-changer.
orange_fudge@reddit
Olive spread is margarine, just made from a more tasty oil.
PM-me-your-cuppa-tea@reddit
So is lurpak spreadable
thehewguy1888@reddit
Agreed..... That's all we buy now
Prestigious_Sand1978@reddit
Stork margarine back in the day was made from almost identical ingredients to Flora except it also contained Buttermilk. These days it doesn’t so it can be marketed to vegans.
SuperExstatic@reddit
It was popular because it was the poor man’s butter but now the price isnt that different and people are now more Informed on what they’re buying and eating we have access to better dietary information at the click of a button now
nonsequitur__@reddit
It was popular with my Dad’s generation (in his 60s) cos they were told for years it was healthier. The GP told him to use Flora proactive specifically. As you say, we have better information now.
SuperExstatic@reddit
My dear old nan used to use flora and I hated it , since I changed from margarine to butter about 20 years ago I can’t have margarine now as that tastes awful too , i think butter really tastes better and enhances the flavour of everything
nonsequitur__@reddit
I agree completely. Flora actively ruins the taste of everything. Happy that everyone around me has gone back to butter.
Pedantichrist@reddit
There is no margarine in the UK, that I know of. Margarine has to be 80% fat, and none of the spreads I can think of are there.
orange_fudge@reddit
That’s because the margarine manufacturers figured that people don’t like the concept of margarine, so they lowered the fat content (eg Flora is 70%) in order to avoid being called ‘margarine’.
In taste, in nutritional profile, in culinary usage, these lower fat spreads are virtually indistinguishable from margarine products.
dune__buggy@reddit
It all started to go downhill after the Vodka Margarine incident.
Interesting_Fly_9051@reddit
i've always been taught that its really unhealthy?
dobber72@reddit
I'm not saying a thing, my spreadable 'butter' has so much rape seed oil in it that I can't believe it's considered butter.
soulsteela@reddit
We buy Stork margarine for baking all the time.
DeifniteProfessional@reddit
My mum does because she's vegan.
I won't touch it - it's whipped rapeseed oil, which is packed to the brim with Omega 6, which is an essential fatty acid but that's very much easy to go over a limit and causes (and this is verifiable, not just tinfoil hat speak) inflammation and cardiovascular health issues. Plus all the ingredients are cheap and nasty. Margarine was marketed as a "healthy alternative" because it had slightly less saturated fat in, but it's the equivalent of drinking pure vegetable oils.
Also "spreadable" butter is basically margarine and butter mixed together. Except for President spreadable, which uses cream to soften the butter and it's like £3 for a small tub but it's SOOOOOOOO good lmao
orange_fudge@reddit
Oooooh I don’t know that about President spreadable! Awesome tip.
skyepark@reddit
I used it again because I'm dairy intolerant much much prefer butter.
cowbutt6@reddit
Yup, when I was a young child, my family used butter. Health messaging in the 80s was that "saturated fats are bad" and so we switched to various branded spreads and margarines that were variously "high in polyunsaturates", or "higher in good HDL cholesterol and lower in bad LDL", or "made from olive oil". I carried on doing so for many years after leaving home.
These days, I use butter again. It tastes better, it works better for most culinary purposes, and margarines are probably worse from a health point of view, given what we now know about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrotreated_vegetable_oil , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans_fat and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-processed_food
The only circumstances that I might consider using margarine today would be for baking cakes and pastry.
CrowApprehensive204@reddit
Yes, I use Aldi olive spread or sometimes flora buttery. I'm not a fan of proper butter, it smells barnyardy.
skawarrior@reddit
Honestly I dislike butter now, it's greasy and doesn't taste right on toast.
It could be the fact I was bought up with Stork as the fridge staple but butter is a no unless I'm cooking
Plenty_Rabbit2074@reddit
Lol I read this as 'has migraine fallen out of fashion' expecting the comments to be all the ways people now throw a sicky at work
Depress-Mode@reddit
I can’t eat it.
Wasn’t it used to fatten geese for food gras but kept killing them?
Technical-Mention510@reddit
Everyone uses a type of margarine spread. Butter doesn’t spread it’s a pain in the arse.
draenog_@reddit
I don't really spread butter on anything where it wouldn't melt anyway, but also it stays pretty soft if you keep it in a butter dish on the counter rather than in the fridge.
nonsequitur__@reddit
I don’t know anyone who uses margarine anymore. It spreads perfectly if you don’t keep it in the fridge.
Snorkmaiden87@reddit
I grew up having Vitalite or Flora at my grandparents house. My grandfather only used Vitalite and my grandmother would only eat Flora house. I recall being really excited when I was allowed the Vitalite for some reason haha but my own parents always used Stork margarine which I hated. I believe it's marketed mainly as a "baking spread" these days but my mother used it for everything (probably because it was cheap and available at the local corner shop).
As a young adult/late teenager I did use some margarines when I first moved out as I'd had my own child but I swiftly changed to real butter after I discovered what it actually was 🤢 and I haven't eaten it now for going on 18-20 years, nor would I. I'm not vegan or vegetarian but I do eat very few animal products, and as high welfare as I can afford when I do, but butter is one I can't make any exceptions on.
I don't think most margarine is fit for human consumption
ohsaycanyourock@reddit
I use it if I'm doing baking for vegan friends, but that's about it. Butter all the way in my house!
mronion82@reddit
My gran grew up during rationing and referred to 'whale margarine' a few times. We thought it was hilarious but didn't believe her.
Found out after she died, totally true. Hardened whale oil... mmmm.
FreeBogwoppits@reddit
Its still here, just rebranded as 'spread'.
I don't use butter. I used the cholesterol lowering spreads in sandwiches, and something like Vitalite in cooking.
Grand_Equipment5292@reddit
Only butter for me.
Even 'spreadable butter' has oils etc added.
YT How to buy the best butter in the UK
TurbulentLifeguard11@reddit
We've been almost exclusively on butter since our child was born and never looked back. It's quite funny now really, because our child is so used to real butter and how nice it is, that when he goes to his Granny's and gets Olivio (that primarily Rapeseed Oil spread with a small dash of Olive Oil chucked in for "marketing purposes only") he goes "Yuck, what is this" and Granny looks very affronted.
TubbyLittleTeaWitch@reddit
My kitchen stays pretty cold for most of the year so even if I leave butter out in a covered butter dish, it's still a pain in the arse to try and spread and I just don't have the time or patience for that sort of faff.
That's why I end up buying a tub of whatever spread is on offer (usually clover or the supermarket's own equivalent). It's not because I prefer it or think it's healthier, it's just quicker and less of a hassle.
Redheadedgypsyheart@reddit
I left butter and margarine out by mistake overnight on my outside eating table after having friends over for dinner last summer. In the morning the butter had been almost all eaten as had all the other stuff I forgot to bring in.... but the margarine was not touched...not even a single gnaw. I never bought margarine again.
TurbulentLifeguard11@reddit
It is and has always been absolutely foul, extremely unhealthy in more ways than most people realise, and these days they keep trying to con you with "plant based" marketing.
Aware_Ad_431@reddit
I’ve only ever bought or made butter.. the idea of the weird spreads has always given me the ick for some reason. I have obviously consumed it when I’ve not been in charge of preparing sandwiches etc though.
TieDyePandas@reddit
I use it as it's easy to find dairy free options these days, literally makes no difference in my opinion.
blamordeganis@reddit
It’s now “plant-based spread” and explicitly marketed as vegan.
Geepandjagger@reddit
Was talking about this with somebody the other day when talking about a product that was so popular but has massively declined. Everyone I know only uses butter but when I was a kid using butter meant you had some kind of death wish
HeartyBeast@reddit
Margarine is as popular as ever. It just isn’t branded as margarine
rklrkl64@reddit
I use something like "I can't believe it's not butter" or whatever the cheap own brand equivalent is (I will get the "light" lower fat version if one is available). It's dirt cheap - have you seen the price of branded butter nowadays - you need a mortgage to buy a tub of Lurpak nowadays.
thehewguy1888@reddit
Buy the block.... Much cheaper and doesn't have any additives to make it spreadable
Technical-Mention510@reddit
There is a downside to it not being spreadable tho..
thehewguy1888@reddit
If it's salted you can keep it out the fridge for days in in a cool dry place in a butter crock. Would much rather spend 60p more for a block of supermarket butter than use cheaper spreadables.
Gazado@reddit
I mean, I just use a sharp knife and have ultra thin 'shavings' of butter in a sandwich when it won't spread because it's going to get mushed up in my gob anyway and once it's between 2 slices of bread with a filling, it's not even noticeable that's it not been spread. Yes, I am a monster. Lol
thehewguy1888@reddit
Ain't nobody got time for that!
Scotchnittenpoopen@reddit
Salted butter in a butter dish so it’s spreadable. It’s 1000% better tasting than even spreadable butter.
I don’t care about if marg/ spreads are good/ bad. Salted Butter on hot toast/ fruit cake/ crumpets/ pikelets/ hot cross buns is just divine 😋
FinalEgg9@reddit
People do still use it, I used some about 20 minutes ago
Illustrious-Air-7777@reddit
As a child from a family of scientists we never had margarine unless a particular baking recipe called for Stork.
CoffeeandaTwix@reddit
I don't think so, there are more brands than ever in the supermarket. The only difference is that nobody calls it margerine anymore and only use brand names or call it spread or similar.
Organic-Can7856@reddit
Finally people are realising how bad it is for you and how good butter is for you.
Figgzyvan@reddit
As soon as i tasted it i hated it. 1969. The ‘spreads’ are better starting with Flora in the 80s.
FreddyFrogFrightener@reddit
Olive spread for sandwiches, butter for toast.
Fellowes321@reddit
When it was found that the partially hydrogenated fats were high in trans fats, the health risks caused people to switch away.
There are reduced trans fat products now but as the National Trust put it, I trust cows more than chemists.
toby1jabroni@reddit
It tastes crap compared to butter. I had it when I was a kid because it was cheaper and my parents never seemed to have taste buds anyway, but as an adult I could never go back.
itchy-crabs@reddit
Lurpack spreadable user here, often buy the big tubs from costco. Will settle for Danpack if needs must, otherwise dry bread & or no bread. Cannot stand margarine. Boyfriends mum buys utterly butterly, and i'll tell you right now it bloody isnt. Clover, ICBINB, flora, stork, ''generic sunflower spread'': all as horrible as the next.
SpectreSingh89@reddit
I use margarine on crumpets, scones, cobs and toast. Defintely not fallen outta fashion.
Rude-Possibility4682@reddit
I don't buy it anymore, but I prefer Stork to butter on toast. My mate swears by it for baking cakes, and her cakes are bloody amazing.
thehewguy1888@reddit
Stork.......
On toast........
Boke 😂
Rude-Possibility4682@reddit
I can't stand the smell of melted butter, it makes me heave. Love me a bit of chemical mix.
thehewguy1888@reddit
Kinda like the same feeling I have with stork lol
rictay44@reddit
I have both, basically because of baking recipes demand one or the other.
derekclysdale@reddit
Yes. You can no longer walk around saying "margarine." So shushhhh.
RoyofBungay@reddit
Well, I would rather trust a cow than a chemist.
_Monsterguy_@reddit
Have you not been in a supermarket ever?
There's always more space for margarine than butter.
thehewguy1888@reddit
I have been buying blocks of butter for ages now. Even cheaper blocks taste decent. We are a family of 4 so it never lasts that long and because it is salted we just keep it in the cupboard in a butter crock so it spreads easily
Pikmanpikman@reddit
My family all eat it, I refuse 😅
MadameDePom@reddit (OP)
Mad repect for holding the line there! I think my family used to use it a lot when I was growing up but my parents are now disciples of French salted butter.
Pikmanpikman@reddit
Mine will come around 💪
spoo4brains@reddit
A few years back I went to visit friends (who are tightwads not out of necessity) for a BBQ. They brought out hotdogs that had been pre-margarined, it was dreadful. I don't think I had tasted it since the 80's, it was a horrible flashback.
whodunnit20@reddit
I have it all the time, use it on toast, in sandwiches and bake with it.
Asleep-Software-4160@reddit
I'll have pretty much any spread that isn't butter. Tastes too buttery.
Namaste_Life@reddit
It always had a weird taste to me. Butter all the way!
Neddlings55@reddit
Only time ive ever used it in my life was at school.
Truewit_@reddit
I’m an olive spread man
AutoModerator@reddit
Please help keep AskUK welcoming!
When replying to submission/post please make genuine efforts to answer the question given. Please no jokes, judgements, etc. If a post is marked 'Serious Answers Only' you may receive a ban for violating this rule.
Don't be a dick to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on.
This is a strictly no-politics subreddit!
Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.