Talk:Margarine
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"Butter lobby" influence
I edited this article to try to sound neutral, but to no avail. I think we should scrap the article and just rewrite it.Draconius14 (talk) 16:23, 21 January 2009 (UTC)
This article contains several references to the "butter lobby" and how they apparenty have curtailed sales of margarine by getting regulators to ban artificial coloring and demand special markings etc. In fact this is common throughout the food industry as a measure against customers being misled. Coloring an ersatz product to deceive consumers to mistake it for the original product is illegal in many countries (and the center of a debate between Norway and the EU).
Since margarine raw materials cost only a few percent of what is needed for butter but the cost to the consumer is about equal, the profit margins are naturally much higher. This means large resellers can negotiate large discounts, which again leads to higher profits for producers of ready-packaged foods (sandwiches etc) when they can substitute margarine for butter without the customer's notice. As the supposed health benefits are at best debatable, it is obvious that cutting costs and increasing profits are the main motives for the trend towards increased use of margarine. I have therefore marked this article as biased. Geira (talk) 15:46, 11 May 2008 (UTC)
- Where do you get the idea the cost to the consumer is about equal? At my grocery store here in Germany, margarine costs about one-fourth as much per 100 g as butter does (the cheapest 500 g tub of margarine costs half as much as the cheapest 250 g block of butter). 62.145.19.66 (talk) 06:15, 15 May 2008 (UTC)
- The article is not biased, but your comment sure is, Geira. Coloring is not misleading. Practically all food is colored. Margarine is about the only one where coloring is banned, due to the pressure from butter lobbyist. Margarine is not an ersatz product, it is just another food product. Butter is not "original product".
- Margarine raw material cost perhaps 50% of butter's. But since the price of margarine in shops is typically 50% of the price of butter, there is no higher profit margin. In many countries, the price of margarine has been artifically increased with high taxes in order to increase the sales of butter, which is another example of butter lobby. Your claim that health benefits of margarine are "debatable" is total BS. The healt benefits of margarine have been undeniably proven by dozens of studies.
- There are some biased statements in the article. Most notably, the chapter about trans fat. It reflects the hysteria around trans fats in the USA, which is obviously result of the propaganda by butter lobbyist. That chapter needs to be fixed, but otherwise, the "biased" tag is out of place and must be removed. --PauliKL (talk) 19:32, 15 May 2008 (UTC)
- The dangers of trans fats are real, not "hysteria in the USA" and not the result of propaganda by the butter lobby. Butter and normal margarine are about equally (un)healthy. There are trans-fat-free and cholesterol-reducing margarines, which are better for you but way, way, more expensive than regular margarine. 62.145.19.66 (talk) 05:34, 16 May 2008 (UTC)
- Wrong. There is definitely trans fats hysteria in USA and maybe in some other countries. And it is clearly caused by the misleading propaganda by the butter lobby. There are no "dangers" in in trans fats. What studies show is that trans fats increase the amount of LDL cholesterol and decrease the amount of HDL cholesterol, which causes increased risk for coronary heart disease. However, the unsaturated fatty acids in margarine decrease LDL cholesterol and increase HDL cholesterol. Even in those times when margarines did contain trans fats, the unsaturated fatty acids more than canceled the effect and the total effect was benefical for health. But nowadays, most margarines (at least in Europe) contain no trans fats. Butter and margarine are not equally (un)healthy. Several large studies show that replacing butter with vegetable based margarine significantly reduces cholesterol levels. Margarines that contain plant sterol/stanol esters are of course more effective. And more expensive, but still cheaper than butter. --PauliKL (talk) 16:07, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
- "There are no 'dangers' in in trans fats. What studies show is that trans fats increase the amount of LDL cholesterol and decrease the amount of HDL cholesterol, which causes increased risk for coronary heart disease." And why isn't that dangerous? It sounds to me like avoiding them is sensible, not "hysterical", in any country. As for "Even in those times when margarines did contain trans fats, the unsaturated fatty acids more than canceled the effect and the total effect was benefical for health. But nowadays, most margarines (at least in Europe) contain no trans fats", I'm going to have ask for sources for both those astonishing claims before I'm prepared to believe them. The cheap margarine available here in Germany is chock-full of trans fats. And the plant-sterol-containing, cholesterol-reducing margarine I buy is significantly more expensive than butter. I can get butter for about €0.75 for a 250 g block, while the margarine is well over €5.00 for a 500 g tub. —Angr 17:12, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
- I already explained that the unsaturated fats in margarine more than compensate the effect to LDL and HDL cholesterol caused by trans fats. I just added a chapter about unsaturated fats with citations about the fact. I am going to have to ask for sources for you astonishing claim that cheap margarine "is chock-full of trans fats". Hydrogenating unsaturated fat to saturated fat cost's no more than hydrogenating to trans fat, so there is no reason to believe that cheap margarine would contain trans fats. Here in Finland it is very difficult, if not impossible to find margarine that contains trans fats. A 400 gram tub of butter costs around 3.00, and 400 g tub of of most popular margarines around €1.90, cheapest margarines around €1.10. All of the margarines contain high amount of unsaturated fats, low amount of saturated fat and no trans fats, so they offer the undeniable health benefits compared to butter. Thus both of the claims "cost of butter and margarine to consumer is about equal" and "butter and normal margarine are about equally (un)healthy" are clearly wrong. The price difference of butter and margarine depends on how much additional taxes have been put to increase price of margarine, and how much subsidies have been paid to butter producers to reduce the price of butter. But those do not increase the profit margin of margarine, and thus the claim "increasing profits are the main motives for the trend toward increased use of margarine" is clearly wrong. So let's face it, the "biased" tag in the article is totally unjustified and the only reason to put it here is the butter lobby. --PauliKL (talk) 17:59, 18 May 2008 (UTC)
- Frankly, you sound like you're here representing the margarine lobby. You already claimed that the unsaturated fats in margarine "more than compensate" for the trans fats, but I can't find any evidence for that in the sources you added today. It looks like I was wrong about trans fats in German margarine, but since butter doesn't have any either, I'm still not seeing why ordinary margarine should be significantly healthier than butter. It sounds like butter is significantly more expensive in Finland than Germany, and margarine slightly more expensive. But a 500 g tub of sterol-containing margarine in Germany costs as much as 400 g of butter plus 400 g of ordinary margarine in Finland, so I suspect the sterol margarine will be correspondingly expensive in Finland. As for the tag, I agree it's unnecessary. Mentioning the historical fact that both butter and margarine have had lobbyists who have tried to promote their product and downplay the competition hardly makes the article biased. (Has it never occurred to the dairy companies that they could make margarine in addition to butter and thus make money regardless of which product is currently popular?) On the other hand, claiming that the butter lobby itself is responsible for the "NPOV" tag on the article is ridiculous. —Angr 20:44, 18 May 2008 (UTC)
- I already explained that the unsaturated fats in margarine more than compensate the effect to LDL and HDL cholesterol caused by trans fats. I just added a chapter about unsaturated fats with citations about the fact. I am going to have to ask for sources for you astonishing claim that cheap margarine "is chock-full of trans fats". Hydrogenating unsaturated fat to saturated fat cost's no more than hydrogenating to trans fat, so there is no reason to believe that cheap margarine would contain trans fats. Here in Finland it is very difficult, if not impossible to find margarine that contains trans fats. A 400 gram tub of butter costs around 3.00, and 400 g tub of of most popular margarines around €1.90, cheapest margarines around €1.10. All of the margarines contain high amount of unsaturated fats, low amount of saturated fat and no trans fats, so they offer the undeniable health benefits compared to butter. Thus both of the claims "cost of butter and margarine to consumer is about equal" and "butter and normal margarine are about equally (un)healthy" are clearly wrong. The price difference of butter and margarine depends on how much additional taxes have been put to increase price of margarine, and how much subsidies have been paid to butter producers to reduce the price of butter. But those do not increase the profit margin of margarine, and thus the claim "increasing profits are the main motives for the trend toward increased use of margarine" is clearly wrong. So let's face it, the "biased" tag in the article is totally unjustified and the only reason to put it here is the butter lobby. --PauliKL (talk) 17:59, 18 May 2008 (UTC)
- "There are no 'dangers' in in trans fats. What studies show is that trans fats increase the amount of LDL cholesterol and decrease the amount of HDL cholesterol, which causes increased risk for coronary heart disease." And why isn't that dangerous? It sounds to me like avoiding them is sensible, not "hysterical", in any country. As for "Even in those times when margarines did contain trans fats, the unsaturated fatty acids more than canceled the effect and the total effect was benefical for health. But nowadays, most margarines (at least in Europe) contain no trans fats", I'm going to have ask for sources for both those astonishing claims before I'm prepared to believe them. The cheap margarine available here in Germany is chock-full of trans fats. And the plant-sterol-containing, cholesterol-reducing margarine I buy is significantly more expensive than butter. I can get butter for about €0.75 for a 250 g block, while the margarine is well over €5.00 for a 500 g tub. —Angr 17:12, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
- Wrong. There is definitely trans fats hysteria in USA and maybe in some other countries. And it is clearly caused by the misleading propaganda by the butter lobby. There are no "dangers" in in trans fats. What studies show is that trans fats increase the amount of LDL cholesterol and decrease the amount of HDL cholesterol, which causes increased risk for coronary heart disease. However, the unsaturated fatty acids in margarine decrease LDL cholesterol and increase HDL cholesterol. Even in those times when margarines did contain trans fats, the unsaturated fatty acids more than canceled the effect and the total effect was benefical for health. But nowadays, most margarines (at least in Europe) contain no trans fats. Butter and margarine are not equally (un)healthy. Several large studies show that replacing butter with vegetable based margarine significantly reduces cholesterol levels. Margarines that contain plant sterol/stanol esters are of course more effective. And more expensive, but still cheaper than butter. --PauliKL (talk) 16:07, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
- The dangers of trans fats are real, not "hysteria in the USA" and not the result of propaganda by the butter lobby. Butter and normal margarine are about equally (un)healthy. There are trans-fat-free and cholesterol-reducing margarines, which are better for you but way, way, more expensive than regular margarine. 62.145.19.66 (talk) 05:34, 16 May 2008 (UTC)
- I'd support the claim that this article is biased, however, I don't think it's entirely due to the facts involved - the language (particularly the section "Margarine in the United States") reads like the noble struggle of the misunderstood margarine manufacturers (and margarine lovers) against the evil butter lobby. I actually assumed that the article was written by someone working for a margarine manufacturer. Also, can someone please add a scientific explanation to the article of how margarine can be solid at room temperature if it's primarily unsaturated fats (which are not solid at room temperature), because I am somewhat suspicious of this claim 93.97.89.119 (talk) 17:10, 7 November 2008 (UTC)
- My reply to the first comment. I don't really think it is about the butter lobby but really just lack of consumer education. My question is about the story of processed cheese coming out and the butter-lobby pushed to have it called embalmed cheese or something? I am trying to put some links together because I originally searched Smart_Balance to see if it is healthy or not, but wikipedia is as clueless as I am, so I'm trying to get some expert links from doctor websites such as webMD but if anybody already knows the story I'm talking about, please send me a pm or write it down here at the references section, and I will cite the footnote. Thanks, Alfred F.
- The "nutrition" section is ambiguous and somewhat irrelevant, especially, it does not distinguish between margarine and butter. Moreover, the nutrition section is misleading in that it makes the two sound one of the same and it is my opinion the whole section should be removed until accurate information pertaining to margarine can be obtained.
- My reply to the first comment. I don't really think it is about the butter lobby but really just lack of consumer education. My question is about the story of processed cheese coming out and the butter-lobby pushed to have it called embalmed cheese or something? I am trying to put some links together because I originally searched Smart_Balance to see if it is healthy or not, but wikipedia is as clueless as I am, so I'm trying to get some expert links from doctor websites such as webMD but if anybody already knows the story I'm talking about, please send me a pm or write it down here at the references section, and I will cite the footnote. Thanks, Alfred F.
—Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.70.210.143 (talk) 18:03, 28 January 2009 (UTC)
Clearly biased
Wow, so defensive this article is! Entry should be: "Margarine isn't so bad and here's why" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.167.129.36 (talk) 04:49, 16 January 2009 (UTC)
- Its the power of the few vs the apathy of the many. Just do a page-edit of the article, and set it back to an earlier revision, until we get things sorted out. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.70.210.143 (talk) 18:05, 28 January 2009 (UTC)
