Margarine

2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29

The margarine is an artificial substitute for natural animal and vegetable fats. In fact, in the concept margarine enter various fats created synthetically. After massive advertising over the past century, margarine has become the most widely used fat in the world. Over the last decade, the harms of this product have come to light.

Due to this fact, manufacturers around the world are constantly striving to improve the product by enriching it with various vitamins, mixing it with natural fats, etc. Today, margarine is made from a wide variety of animal or vegetable fats and is often mixed with skim milk, salt and emulsifiers. There are also products that claim to be 100% vegetable fat.

In fact the story of margarine began in 1869 by a French chemist who, trying to invent a detergent, laid the groundwork for what he uses today to spread on his toasted slices. At that time, margarine was an ideal substitute for the expensive and scarce butter due to the plague epidemic at the time.

The romantic version of the story of the creation of margarine tells how in the 60s of the 19th century the French Emperor Napoleon III announced a prize for the one who created a satisfactory substitute for butter, suitable for use by the military and the lower classes. The French chemist Hippolyte Mege-Maurice invented a substance called "oleomargarine", which was later abbreviated to "margarine".

From France, the "revolutionary discovery" was transferred to the United States, and by 1873 the oil substitute business was extremely successful. Since the mid-1980s, the US federal government has introduced a tax of 2 cents per pound, as well as an expensive license to produce and sell margarine. Some states are beginning to require that it be clearly labeled and not impersonate real oil.

The turbulent history of accepting and denying margarine as a healthy food goes through various stages, denials, improvements, bans and advertising of margarine, to reach today, when this product is the best-selling spread product in some parts of the world.

The origin of the name is from Greek and means pearl, because in the beginning it was hard, white and shiny. It was made from beef fat, milk and pieces of sheep and cow udder. Gradually, vegetable and fish oils began to be used for its production. With the advancement of chemistry, additives began to be added that improved the appearance, its ability to lubricate and its aroma.

To keep it from melting, it is treated by adding hydrogen atoms and fat molecules, which make it more saturated and increase its melting point. Hydrogenated margarine it does not spoil, does not rot and is not even a tempting food for insects and rodents.

How to make margarine

The vast majority of types of margarine on the market begin life as polyunsaturated (liquid) oils extracted from various plant sources, such as corn, sunflower, peanuts, etc. After being purified to become a solid, the oils are heated to a very high temperature under pressure. Hydrogen is then introduced into the mixture in the presence of nickel and aluminum as catalysts. Hydrogen molecules combine with carbon to form a solid oily mass called margarine.

In its original form, this table is dark in color and smells pretty bad. To make the margarine we buy in stores, we go through a bleaching process (similar to laundry bleaching), coloring, adding preservatives, perfuming, and sometimes adding vitamins.

As a finish, so that the oil can be turn into margarine, it goes through the process of hydrogenation, which chemically converts some of the polyunsaturated (liquid) fats into saturated (solid). This process also turns the beneficial "cis" fatty acids into the not so beneficial "trans" fatty acids, which are a scourge for human health.

Ingredients of margarine

Margarine contains little saturated fat and often has fewer calories than butter. It is considered to be a good source of vitamins A and E as well as essential fatty acids. People who regularly eat margarine often prefer it to butter because the substitute has a lighter and less greasy taste.

Unfortunately, the hydrogenation process creates trans fats in margarine that one cannot digest properly. This leads to the stimulation of the human body to produce cholesterol. Traces of toxic metals used in the process were also found in it.

The presence of nickel in the production of margarine is an extremely frightening fact. Chemists are adamant that nickel cannot be completely filtered, regardless of the method used. When margarine productionand nickel is injected crushed into very small particles. Its percentage is from 0.5 to 1 percent. The cheap method of production is even more frightening - an equal mixture of nickel and aluminum is used, in which, however, in order to have an effect, the amount used is increased from one to ten percent of the weight of the product.

100 g of margarine usually contains:

Calories 719 kcal; Protein 0.9 g; Carbohydrates 0.9 g; Fat 80.5 g.

Selection and storage of margarine

Choose margarine whose packaging contains clear information about the manufacturer and the expiration date. Store it in a tightly closed box in the refrigerator.

Margarine in cooking

The use of margarine in cooking is similar to that of other fats. Some types of margarine are extremely unsuitable for frying, as they do not melt completely and start to spray strongly. As an alternative to cow butter, s margarine almost all pastries and biscuits that require the use of fat can be prepared.

Involuntarily or not, we often consume margarine without wanting to, buying some chips or semi-finished products.

The vast majority of goods in the food industry are produced with hydrogenated fats - pastries, biscuits, chips, all kinds of confectionery, semi-finished products, etc.). That's why it's good to think next time you want to give someone a waffle or snack.

Harm from margarine

Trans fatty acids reduce good cholesterol, which means that the fats obtained by hydrogenation are much more harmful than saturated fats, which all medical professionals define as harmful. There is evidence that trans fats can cause bioaccumulation in the body, as the digestive system finds it difficult to know what to do with them. As a result, the least that can happen is weight gain.

The use of hydrogenated products has been linked to diabetes, coronary heart disease and obesity. All medical professionals agree that one should limit the consumption of hydrogenated foods or avoid it if possible to reduce exposure to trans fats. People need to eat healthy with healthy fats to protect themselves from unwanted side effects and many types of diseases.

In its essence, hydrogenation is the furious heating and subsequent processing of the oil destroys all vitamins and minerals, which changes the composition of proteins. In addition, essential fatty acids (Essential Fatty Acids) have been altered and sometimes even turned into antagonistic ingredients - instead of being useful, they have become harmful.

According to research by Dr. Hugh Sinclair, head of the human nutrition laboratory at Oxford University, the lack of these fatty acids "contributes to nervous diseases, heart disease, atherosclerosis, skin diseases, arthritis and cancer."

Nickel, which is used in the production process of margarine, even in minimal doses, is carcinogenic. Moreover, metals not inherent in the human body, such as nickel, have been studied as causes of atherosclerosis.