# Margarine is really black & ONE MOLECULE away from being PLASTIC? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 18, 2005, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margarine-is-really-black-one-molecule-away-from-being-plastic/331607 "2005-11-18T04:56:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margarine-is-really-black-one-molecule-away-from-being-plastic/331607/21 "2005-11-18T14:39:34Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Don’t knock it 'till you’ve tried it; bread and lard (AKA ‘dripping’) with salt was an important and popular(through necessity) food source until recently, 'round these parts. I purely loves me some thick slices of bread lavishly smeared with bacon grease. A light dusting of fresh ground black pepper elevates it to just short of orgasmic. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margarine-is-really-black-one-molecule-away-from-being-plastic/331607/22 "2005-11-18T15:29:26Z")
**pkbites,** you don’t say how recently you have tried margarine, but the stuff has changed a great deal. When I was a wee lad, (early 1950s) margarine was odd stuff with a strange texture, and it tasted like the vegetable oils it was made from. Since then, food scientists have constantly tinkered with the texture and flavor. Some spreads now have a very nice texture, and the flavor is pretty close to butter. I’m currently using Smart Balance Buttery Spread. It’s free of trans-fats. The texture is like that of whipped butter, and so is the taste. It’s not butter, but it’s darn close. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margarine-is-really-black-one-molecule-away-from-being-plastic/331607/23 "2005-11-18T17:12:09Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > _ **margarine is initially BLACK, but it is DYED YELLOW to look like butter** _ That’s only one sentence away from being TRUE!!! ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margarine-is-really-black-one-molecule-away-from-being-plastic/331607/24 "2005-11-18T17:15:33Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > I’m currently using Smart Balance Buttery Spread. It’s free of trans-fats. The texture is like that of whipped butter, and so is the taste. It’s not butter, but it’s darn close. And near-beer taste just like the real thing!😃 ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margarine-is-really-black-one-molecule-away-from-being-plastic/331607/25 "2005-11-18T17:17:19Z")
Plastics are usually polymers consisting of the same molecule bonded to more of the same molecule over and over again like PVC. So its not unfeasable that a chemical in margarine is potentially a repeating molecule that can form a plastic polymer. However, biological systems also tend to have repeating polymers (DNA for instance) so the idea that plastic is horrible isn’t necessarily true. ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margarine-is-really-black-one-molecule-away-from-being-plastic/331607/26 "2005-11-18T17:27:48Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > That’s only one sentence away from being TRUE!!! Diet Coke. All over the monitor. Thank you. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ombre3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/da6949/32.png) [@ombre3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ombre3)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margarine-is-really-black-one-molecule-away-from-being-plastic/331607/27 "2005-11-18T17:31:02Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > And near-beer taste just like the real thing!😃 But age necessitates compromise. I swore at one time that I would never drink a diet cola, that I would never drink a light beer, that I would always use butter. But I was young and slim and could eat anything I wanted to. Can’t do that anymore unless I want to be a 220 pound fatso. Now I drink light beer, diet colas, and use low calorie artificial spreads—and they all taste tolerably good. Either they make that stuff taste better anymore, or I have just gotten used to crap. Ain’t science and “getting used to things” wonnerful? ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margarine-is-really-black-one-molecule-away-from-being-plastic/331607/28 "2005-11-18T17:34:46Z")
We make butter all the time using milk from a local cow. It’s bright, bright yellow. Comercial dairy cows that don’t get enough pasturage will produce pale butter, and natural yellow dyes are often added. But real butter from real cows on real pastures will be bright yellow like God intended. ---
**Author:** ![ombre3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/da6949/32.png) [@ombre3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ombre3)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margarine-is-really-black-one-molecule-away-from-being-plastic/331607/29 "2005-11-18T17:38:12Z")
Just curious– Since we are talking general dairy here– Is milk from a natural cow on a natural pasture a different color too? And a different taste? ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margarine-is-really-black-one-molecule-away-from-being-plastic/331607/30 "2005-11-18T17:51:05Z")
> [@ombre3](#): > > But age necessitates compromise. You’ve just gotten used to crap!😃 I’m 45 & I compromise nothing! At 6’1 my 219lbs can handle as much butter as I like! If confronted between having to eat margarine or nothing, I eat nothing. Better to dip bread in a little olive oil with herbs in it then spread that greasy glop on my bread. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margarine-is-really-black-one-molecule-away-from-being-plastic/331607/31 "2005-11-18T17:57:45Z")
> [@ombre3](#): > > Just curious– > > Since we are talking general dairy here– > > Is milk from a natural cow on a natural pasture a different color too? > > And a different taste? Yes. All milk is dependent on both the species of cow and of the cow’s diet. Although there are constraints at the limits, milk varies in composition and color from cow to cow, from farm to farm, from season to season. Commercial milk is normally a blending of milks from a number of sources, and may have some milk solids (proteins, fats, sugars) added to yield a consistent product. This means that all byproducts of milk vary in similar ways. Butter varies from a pale yellow to a bright orange-yellow depending on feed. I don’t know of any butter that is naturally white the way margarine is: that’s just wrong. ( **scm1001’s** cite does not back up the contention that grain-fed cows produce white butter. Pale yellow is the term used.) However, naturally pale butter may have annatto dye added to give it a more robust color to make it more appealing to consumers, as **Lemur866** says. Annatto is a plant dye that is also used in margarines. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margarine-is-really-black-one-molecule-away-from-being-plastic/331607/32 "2005-11-18T18:04:00Z")
> [@ombre3](#): > > Can’t do that anymore unless I want to be a 220 pound fatso. I’m 219. I guess according to you I can eat a pound of butter!😛 ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margarine-is-really-black-one-molecule-away-from-being-plastic/331607/33 "2005-11-18T18:09:55Z")
> [@Wesley Clark](#): > > However, biological systems also tend to have repeating polymers (DNA for instance) so the idea that plastic is horrible isn’t necessarily true. Biological polymers are NOT plastics, so this sentence doesn’t really make sense. ---
**Author:** ![ombre3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/da6949/32.png) [@ombre3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ombre3)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margarine-is-really-black-one-molecule-away-from-being-plastic/331607/34 "2005-11-18T19:00:50Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > I’m 219. I guess according to you I can eat a pound of butter!😛 But you are 6 foot 1. I am 5 foot 9 and 1/2. (actually I was almost 5’ 11" many years ago—seem to have shrunk some). At 220 I look like I’m preggers. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margarine-is-really-black-one-molecule-away-from-being-plastic/331607/35 "2005-11-18T19:04:21Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > Chlorine gas (nasty stuff) is one atom away from table salt. As is sodium, a metal that explodes on contact with water. But [together](http://bb.dreamworksrecords.com/rufuswainwright/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=112433&page=18&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1), wuv, twoo wuv. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margarine-is-really-black-one-molecule-away-from-being-plastic/331607/36 "2005-11-18T21:00:13Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > **pkbites** don’t listen to these guys. They are the same sort of people who would try to hand wave away the well known dangers of [dihydrogen monoxide](http://www.dhmo.org/facts.html) just as uncaringly. [Too bad Aliso Viejo didn’t listen.](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4534017)😛 ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margarine-is-really-black-one-molecule-away-from-being-plastic/331607/37 "2005-11-18T21:12:44Z")
I’m still trying to figure out why anyone would bother to dye their margarine at home?? ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margarine-is-really-black-one-molecule-away-from-being-plastic/331607/38 "2005-11-18T21:28:17Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > And have you heard about air? It’s only one molecule away from being strychnine! I’d like to see a diagram of an air molecule, please! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margarine-is-really-black-one-molecule-away-from-being-plastic/331607/39 "2005-11-18T21:33:25Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > I’m still trying to figure out why anyone would bother to dye their margarine at home?? Because a dead white spread looked really unappetizing. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margarine-is-really-black-one-molecule-away-from-being-plastic/331607/40 "2005-11-18T21:56:52Z")
Hmmm. Here’s a history of margarine: [http://www.margarine.org/historyofmargarine.html](http://www.margarine.org/historyofmargarine.html) Invented in 1870. The dairy interests started fighting back in the late 1870’s and 1880’s. 1885: > [@](#): > > When a court voided a ban on margarine in New York, dairy militants turned their attention to Washington, resulting in Congressional passage of the Margarine Act of 1886. This imposed a 2 cent a pound tax on the stuff. 1902: > [@](#): > > 32 states and 80% of the U.S. population lived under margarine color bans. While the Supreme Court upheld such bans, it did strike down forced coloration (pink) which had begun in an effort to get around the ban on yellow coloring. During this period coloring in the home began, with purveyors providing capsules of food coloring to be kneaded into the margarine. This practice continued through World War II. I’ve heard black mentioned as a forced color as well (IIRC, on NPR). Apparently New Hampshire was one of the states requiring margarine to be dyed pink up until 1898. > [@](#): > > Amendments to the Federal Margarine Act raised the tax on colored margarine five-fold, but decreased licensing fees for white margarine. But demand for colored margarine remained so strong, that bootleg colored margarine flourished. “Bootleg margarine”. Now there’s a thought. “My great-granddaddy was a margarine runner.”. Taxes on colored vs. non-colored margarine were equalized in 1930 (an end to oleo-apartheid?), and a couple decades later Truman signed “The Margarine Act of 1950” removing the federal margarine taxes. Parkay apparently manufactured hot pink (and blue) margarine after Heinz started manufacturing green ketchup. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margarine-is-really-black-one-molecule-away-from-being-plastic/331607.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margarine-is-really-black-one-molecule-away-from-being-plastic/331607.md?page=3)