margarine

Also known as oleo, marge, oleomargarine

Margarine (, also , ) is a spread used for flavoring, baking, and cooking. It is most often used as a substitute for butter. Although originally made from animal fats, most margarine consumed today is made from vegetable oil. The spread was originally named oleomargarine from Latin for oleum (olive oil) and Greek margarite ("pearl", indicating luster). The name was later shortened to margarine, or sometimes oleo (particularly in the Deep South region of the United States).

AI overview

Margarine is a spread made primarily from vegetable oil that people use for cooking, baking, and flavoring food, most commonly as a substitute for butter. The product was originally made from animal fats, and its name comes from Latin and Greek words referring to olive oil and a pearl's lustrous appearance.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Key facts

Food.name: Margarine
Food.image: Margarine.jpg
Food.image_size: 250px
Food.caption: Margarine in a tub
Food.alternate_name: Marge, oleo, oleomargarine, buttery spread
Food.country: France
Food.creator: Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès
Food.type: Spread
Food.main_ingredient: Vegetable oils

via Wikipedia infobox

Research

2,134 papers

Margarine--facts and myths.The Medical journal of Australia · 1994Nestel PJ
Butter, margarine and serum lipoproteins.ReviewAtherosclerosis · 1997Zock PL, Katan MBDOI: 10.1016/s0021-9150(96)06063-7
Margarine vs. butter. Let's put the facts (fats) on the table.ReviewJournal of general orthodontics · 1995Loudon ME
Technological innovations in margarine production: Current trends and future perspectives on trans-fat removal and saturated fat replacement.ReviewComprehensive reviews in food science and food safety · 2025Bihola A, Chaudhary MB, Bumbadiya MR et al.DOI: 10.1111/1541-4337.70088
Margarine.South African medical journal = Suid-Afrikaanse tydskrif vir geneeskunde · 1969
Quality of margarine: fats selection and processing parameters.ReviewAsia Pacific journal of clinical nutrition · 2005Miskandar MS, Man YC, Yusoff MS et al.
[Butter versus margarine?].Sozial- und Praventivmedizin · 1990Jacob S, Gutzwiller FDOI: 10.1007/BF01359483
[Margarine's trans-fatty acid composition: modifications during the last decades and new trends].ReviewArchivos latinoamericanos de nutricion · 2005Griguol Chulich VI, León-Camacho M, Vicario Romero IM

via PubMed

Wikidata facts

Image: Margaryn 022.jpg

Show 1 more fact

Commons category: Margarine

Sources (2)

via Wikidata · CC0

~28 min read

Article

27 sections

Contents

History
Invention and early distribution
Color debate
Coal butter
Post-WWII
Spread products
Manufacturing process
Hydrogenation
Nutrition
Amount of fat
Saturated fat
Unsaturated fat
Trans fat
Plant sterol esters and stanol esters
Market acceptance
National standards
Australia
Canada
European Union
United Kingdom
United States
Legal issues
Canada
New Zealand
United States
See also
References

Margarine consists of a water-in-fat emulsion, with tiny droplets of water dispersed uniformly throughout a fat phase in a stable solid form. While butter is made by concentrating the butterfat of milk through centrifugation, modern margarine is made through a more intensive processing of refined vegetable oil and water.