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Let’s jump in a time machine and head back to the 1990s: Margarine is back, baby.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” you scoff. “No one is eating margarine.”
But plant-based butter is all the rage. Of course, it’s not butter butter. Can you guess what ill-fated food category plant-based butter does fall under? It’s margarine.
That’s not my opinion: That’s what the law states, per both the Butter Act and the Code of Federal Regulations. The CFR is the bible for any food industry professional who wishes to stay out of legal trouble. It outlines the legal definition of foods, what ingredients must be included, and how the food should be processed.
Not all foods are included here; it’s mostly those that are likely to be mimicked by cheaper versions. Think chocolate, milk, and, of course, butter.
What is butter?
Butter has long been regulated by the Butter Act, which has remained largely unchanged since 1886. It was the rise of margarine that initially forced the government to legally define butter.
Decades of battle between the two industries, as well as some truly bizarre legislation, followed. At one point, many states required margarine to be dyed an off-putting pink color, so that consumers would have no trouble identifying butter versus margarine.
The margarine industry itself was partly responsible for this punishment because it often dishonestly marketed its products as butter.
Does this sound eerily familiar to the debate today? The only difference may be that the fight is now between butter and plant butter. Or is it?
Under United States law, butter is required to be made exclusively from milk, cream, or both, and must have a minimum of 80 percent milkfat.
OK. So what is margarine?
According to the CFR, margarine (or oleomargarine) is the term for a mixture of edible fats and oils from plants, animals, or marine species. Just like butter, the fat content must be 80 percent or higher.
