I have written twice about my preference for butter over other spreads, and my belief that it is better for you, and I was pleased to find that extensive research has proved it to be so.
Here is what I wrote before:
1. Margarine or butter, butter or margarine? Which is healthier? Which tastes better? Which is better for you and your family?
OK, so butter is high in calories, but look at the ingredients… milk and salt (or no salt) I like Kerrygold and I’ve just looked at their products and it tells me that the colour of their butter is completely natural, it comes from beta carotene in the lovely grass the cows eat. I also love Lurpak and looking at their site I see their butter has 741 calories, 81 grams of fat, and 0.47 grams of sodium. Milk, and a little salt – or you can get unsalted butter, which is just made from milk.
So… margarine, I don’t particularly like the taste of it, I don’t like the feel of it on my tongue, but it is convenient to be able to spread it straight from the fridge (OK, yes, you can get spreadable butter from Kerrygold) and there are all sorts of low-fat margarines and spreads available. But is margarine more healthy? Well some of them certainly are lower in fat (there are different sorts of fats though, aren’t there?) According to a European Union directive, margarine is “”a water-in-oil emulsion derived from vegetable/animal fats, with a fat content of at least 80% but less than 90%, that remain solid at a temperature of 20°C and are suitable as spread.” Sounds delicious? I don’t think so!
We can all read up about butter vs margarine, but I look on the side of the packets… milk and salt vs a whole load of things as well as the oil needed as a base; I then think, the taste of butter or the taste of margarine? I have to go with butter, use it sparingly, spread it lightly, but it has to be butter.
2.
I come down firmly on the butter side, although I do use margarine for some recipes.. a hang-over from my childhood when my mum used Stork margarine for baking cakes and biscuits and buns. I was interested to see an article in the paper today about the fact that people are moving away from margarine and sales of butter are booming.
Shoppers opt for butter over margarine
Butter sales are booming as Britons are choosing butter over margarine, according to a new report. Part of the reason for the surge is believed to be the new trend for home baking and a narrowing of the price gap with margarine. Data from Kantar Worldpanel found sales of block butter increased by 4.3 per cent in the last year, while spreadable butter rose by 2.7 per cent – at a time when the overall value of butter and margarine fell.
Tim Eales, strategic insight director at market analysts IRI, told trade magazine the Grocer: “A narrowing price gap between butter and margarine, as well as evolving consumer habits, are key drivers behind the margarine decline. “The declining sales of margarine must be a concern for the industry.”
Butter continues to buck the trend, after the overall value of the butter and spreads market fell by 1.5 per cent last year.
Flora has been one of the worst hit by the downward slide in sales, which is believed to be due to the new recipe it launched in 2012. Statistics show Flora lost £24.2 million in sales last year as shoppers switched brands. Last month the makers of Flora were forced to stage an embarrassing U-turn on its new recipe after complaints about taste of the new formula of their favourite spread. The new lower fat version was branded “disgusting” and there were many complaints about the smell. After the mistake, brand owner Unilever announced that it was bringing back the old flavour 17 months after spending £29 million on a reformulation aimed at improving the taste and health benefits of the spread.
Stuart Ibberson, business unit director at Arla Foods, whose Anchor and Lurpak brands added: “Consumers are moving towards more natural products, away from products such as margarine that are often packed full of additives.”
3. here is the link to today’s news story:
And finally we have to see it again:
Lois Elsden 