Margarine is hard. Milk and cream margarine: composition, calorie content and scope

Much has been said about the dangers of margarine. But it is still added to confectionery and other foods. Why?

Today it is considered perhaps the main culinary evil. But people forget that he saved the lives of thousands of people who would have been in danger of starvation when dairy products were unavailable.

It all started like this: Napoleon III announced that he would pay well the one who invented a substitute butter, accessible ordinary people. Many scientists have tried to synthesize similar product, but it was only at the end of the 19th century that Ippolit Mezh-Murier succeeded. The novelty had an unusual pearl tint, was very cheap and was not capricious in storage. Actually, these features alerted potential buyers. So the first consumers of margarine were French soldiers, who could not be picky about food.

Then hard times came for the world, and already civilians became consumers of margarine products. Gradually, the hunger passed, and margarine was still added to confectionery, butter and other foods.

At the end of the 20th century, supporters healthy eating they began to talk about harmful trans fats, and the product fell out of favor with the mass buyer.

Indeed, research confirms the link between the consumption of trans fats and the development of heart disease, infertility and other ailments in humans. Many modern manufacturers significantly reduced the content of harmful molecules in margarine. And some even produce a product without trans fats in the composition. Because it is more popular not so much because of more good for the body, how much because of the pleasant and habitual taste, and also because of the myths rooted in society.

So is margarine really bad? Let's try to figure it out.

Few people can answer what margarine consists of. There is even a myth that it is produced from oil. Probably, this fable appeared because of someone's comment about the taste of the product, and then was fixed in the mass consciousness as a truth.

Ideas for food from petroleum products were found in dystopian writers, such as Harry Harrison. Fantasists believed that in the 21st century the population of the Earth would increase to such an extent that nature would be destroyed and food would be scarce.

Today, everything is not so bad: margarine and other oil-based delicacies are not offered to customers.

This product is an emulsion of water and fat. Therefore, it is also called cooking oil. Today, various modified oils: vegetable, coconut, palm, olive, cotton, etc. In some cases, animal or milk fats are added.

In America, they often take for the base, and in Europe -. Auxiliary ingredients: salt, spices, flavors, sugars, emulsifiers. In Russia, compliance with regulations is controlled by law.

There are several types of margarine with the following markings:

• MT is a solid used in Food Industry;
• MTS - cooking oil, suitable for puff pastry;
• MTK - suitable for creating creams and soufflés;
• MM - a fairly soft product, good for sandwiches;
• MFA / MZHP - liquid substances used for deep-frying and baking bread and rolls.

Ordinary consumers use only table margarine, which can be easily spread on bread. Some even argue that it is in no way inferior in taste and benefits to butter. This type of margarine is divided into milk and cream.

Don't forget about quality

The cheaper the product, the worse it is. Low cost indicates expired, low-quality or not very useful raw materials. For sandwiches and home baking it is better to buy table margarine at an adequate cost.

Margarine made from modified soy can cause severe allergic reactions.

Many do not like the taste of palm oil (a bit like laundry soap), although only a faint shade of palm oil is usually felt in the final products.

Lactic

Paradoxically, this particular product does not contain milk or even a hint of it. Usually, whale oil derivatives are used for its manufacture. It contains a lot of natural nutrients. But health benefits can probably come from vitamins and microelements with which manufacturers artificially enrich their products. These are vitamins A, E and PP and group B, phosphorus, calcium and choline, sodium and magnesium.

Milk margarine is almost 99% fat, and there are also some proteins in the composition.

Calorie content - about 770 kcal per 100 g.

Professional confectioners believe that this variety is ideal for creating culinary products. Used to make bread, various buns, pastry cream. At home, milk margarine is suitable for baking homemade cookies and dessert creams. In addition, you can simply make delicious sandwiches with it.

Creamy

It includes vegetable oils and animal fats. The production also necessarily uses pasteurized cow's milk. The composition should include no more than 25% butter. So overall, this is a fairly high-quality, edible product.

The chemical composition is also quite decent. For example, a lot of vitamin E, vitamins of group B, A, PP. Creamy margarine contains potassium, magnesium and phosphorus, choline and magnesium.

Calorie content per 100 g is about 743 kcal, containing up to 82 g of fat.

The product is suitable for baking, making sandwiches, thick creams.

Harm

The main harm of margarine is the presence of trans fats. But the thing is, these compounds are practically non-existent in modern products that you can find on the shelves. Therefore, consumption in adequate amounts does not harm the body and does not cause the formation of cancerous tumors, the development of infertility and other ailments in which the product is blamed.

However, margarine is very high in calories, so abuse can cause obesity, and not necessarily in the form of fat folds in problem areas. After all, fat is deposited on internal organs, while the person often remains relatively slender.

Obesity, in turn, leads to diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, of cardio-vascular system, deterioration of mental abilities, hormonal disruptions, depression and infertility.

Baked goods and confectionery products with cooking oil also cannot cause serious harm on their own. Of course, if you eat a cake a day, then health problems will definitely appear.

Is there any benefit

Margarine is rich in vitamins and minerals that the human body needs every day. In addition, the product is rich in saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. So yes, it can be useful.

Of course, margarine cannot be attributed to diet food, but it gives a lot of energy, and therefore helps to quickly satisfy hunger and relieve fatigue. In addition, if the product is made from quality vegetable fats, it does not increase the level of bad cholesterol - (exceeding the norm for cholesterol is considered a harbinger of many serious diseases).

How to choose and store

• Do not buy the product paper packaging, only in foil - it does not transmit light and odors.
• Do not take cheap margarine - not the most healthy products could be used for its preparation.
• It is advisable to buy a butter substitute without flavors and emulsifiers.
• Store only in the refrigerator, but not longer than 3 months.
• If margarine has a sour, rancid or metallic taste, it's time to throw it away.
• The color of the bar should be even over the entire surface, without yellow smudges or gray spots.

Gray and brown shades indicate violations in manufacturing process. "Marbling" or "striping" - about improper storage and uneven cooling.

Margarine versus butter

Obviously, butter is healthier. It contains more vitamins, minerals, natural milk fats. But if dairy products are not produced in your region, but are brought exclusively from other regions, there is a risk of buying spoiled butter. And margarine practically does not deteriorate, and its cost is still lower.

There is another point regarding production. For example, in the Altai Territory, a pack of delicious natural oil weighing 180 g costs about 60-80 rubles. Whereas in many other regions for this price you can buy only spread or cooking oil.

Using margarine as a dietary butter substitute is a bad idea. Their calorie content is approximately equal, so losing weight will not work. Margarine can be eaten if you try to comply Great Lent. But in this case, it is necessary to choose products in which only herbal ingredients are present.

So, if you choose between products according to the degree of usefulness - definitely oil. And if you like the taste of margarine better, then eat it. But do not forget that both options are very fatty, and you should not lean heavily on them.

It is advisable to eat no more than 1 tbsp per day. l. butter or margarine. In the case of oil, this portion will bring certain benefits. If we are talking about margarine, then one spoon will not cause any significant harm.

Margarine is incredibly popular in cooking. This ingredient is in the recipe, perhaps, of every store-bought cookie or sweet bun. Despite its excellent qualities, the product has gained dubious fame. That is why it is worth figuring out on your own what margarine is made of and which product to choose for home cooking.

Friend or foe?

Margarine in the food industry has firmly occupied its niche. When buying a particular product, you may not be aware of the presence of this ingredient. Its use allows manufacturers to improve appearance and extend the shelf life of products, as well as reduce their cost. It was the more modest price in comparison with butter that became the main motivation for the use of margarine in production and cooking.

However, not only the cheapness of the product began to arouse suspicion among vigilant consumers, but also its composition. Without knowing what margarine is made from, you can believe in the myth of its "oil" origin. The roots of this tale are in the Soviet past, when in school textbooks on chemistry our good old friend, for some reason, was attributed specifically to petroleum products. The belief that margarine is unsuitable for nutrition healthy person migrated to the minds of subsequent generations, and even to this day, many believe in the dubious nature of margarine.

In fact, the question of the harm or usefulness of this component of the diet depends only on its quality. A balanced product free of trans fats, great for eating as a substitute for butter. That is why a key role in determining potential harm such an alternative is played by its composition and features of production technology.

In the food industry, there are three main groups into which margarine is divided:

• the solid product is most often used in confectionery and bakery industry. This variety is different high content animal fats;
• soft margarine is intended for direct consumption. Representatives of this group, in particular, are used for spreading on bread. They are distinguished by a high percentage of saturated fats. Animal and vegetable fats are involved in the production of such a product;
• liquid margarine has the properties of an emulsion and is usually used for frying and baking products. This type is produced from sunflower, soybean, olive oil and cotton. These margarines contain a large number of polyunsaturated fatty acids and are considered the healthiest.

Vegetable oils remain the main raw material for the production of all groups. IN different countries various types are used, in particular:

• sunflower;
• peanut;
• soy;
• olive;
• rapeseed;
• corn;
• Palm;
• cocoa butter and others.

The question of what margarine is made of in Russia cannot be answered unambiguously. But often domestic producers use sunflower oil as a base.

Read also:

For other ingredients light oil» include various preservatives, natural dyes, flavorings, salt and sugar. These components help to give the mixture a pleasant appearance and smell. Depending on the group of margarine produced, animal fats of various origins are used.

Why and when does a product become harmful?

The harm of margarine for human body largely related to production technology. To keep it in the form of solid bars, hydrogenation is used. This method allows introducing hydrogen molecules into fatty acids. The danger of hydrogenation is that it promotes trans fats. It is these compounds that are primarily responsible for the harm margarine has to human health:

• increase the concentration of "bad" cholesterol;
• increase the risk of developing heart and vascular diseases;
• weaken the protective functions of the body;
• negatively affect the reproductive capabilities of a person;
• contribute to the development of cancer.

Today, two technologies for producing margarine are practiced. An alternative to the hydrogenation mentioned above is interesterification, which does not lead to the formation of trans fats. When buying margarine, you should pay attention to the possible content of these harmful compounds.

Also, the danger is the dishonesty of margarine producers. In his recipe, cheap vegetable oils that were not properly processed could be used. Especially dubious quality possesses a product prepared with palm oil.

Unfortunately, to understand what the margarine that we consume in finished goods, very hard. However, choosing it on our own, we get the opportunity to choose the most quality product by examining the composition. The expensive mixture tastes barely distinguishable from natural butter. A good margarine should not have a bitter or sour taste.

The history of the origin of margarine is quite long and somewhat confusing in some places. The name appeared in 1813, When Michel Eugene Chevreul opened " margaric acid"(from other Greek μαργαρίτης "pearl", pearl deposits fatty acids). It was believed that margaric acid is one of the three fatty acids(which in combination form most animal fats), oleic acid or stearic (octadecanoic) acid. IN 1853 German chemist Wilhelm Heinz discovered that this so-called. "margaric acid" was really just a mixture stearic (octadecanoic) acids with a previously unknown palmitic (hexadecanoic) acids (today margaric acid name one of the carboxylic acids, C 17).

A key factor in the decline in margarine sales (and protection of the entrenched dairy industry), oddly enough, was the introduction of restrictions on its color. The natural color of margarine is white or almost white and, introducing a ban on the additive artificial dyes, legislators kept margarine out of kitchen tables. Such prohibitions quickly spread throughout the world and lasted for almost a hundred years. For example, in australia the sale of dyed margarine became legal only in 1960s, and in provinces Quebec (Canada), the sale of dyed margarine became legal only in 2008.

In the US, bans on coloring margarine began with the "dairy states" NY And New Jersey under the influence of oil lobby". At some stage, laws were even introduced obliging margarine producers to add pink dye, to give the product a tasteless, repulsive appearance, however, these laws were overturned by the Supreme Court. Back to top XX century eight out of ten Americans could not acquire yellow margarine, and those who could had to pay a hefty tax. With the spread of illegally colored margarine, manufacturers began to supply dye capsules so that housewives could mix yellow into margarine before serving. However, regulation and taxes still had a significant effect: for example, amendments to the so-called "Margarine Act of 1902" reduced the consumption of the product from 120 million to 48 million. pounds(from 54 thousand tons to 22 thousand tons), but by the end of the decade, the popularity of margarine reached its peak.

IN Lately on the packaging you can find the words "margarine" and " spread". Sellers often claim they are one and the same. The production of these products is very similar, but regulated by different regulations. In spreads, the use of hydrogenated fats is limited and the content of trans isomers is regulated fatty acids, and in margarine these parameters have almost no legal restrictions.

Products

Three main types of margarine

• Hard, usually uncolored margarine for cooking or baking, with a high content of animal fat.
• "Traditional" margarines for spreading on toast with a relatively high percentage of saturated fat. Made from animal fat or vegetable oil.
• Margarines high in mono- or poly-unsaturated fats. Produced from safflower dye (Carthamus tinctorius), sunflower , soybeans, cotton or olive oil. They have in their composition the lowest, in comparison with other types of margarine, the content of saturated fats, there is no cholesterol.

Many of today's popular "smudge products" ( spreads) are essentially a mixture of margarine and butter. Their sale under the guise of oil is prohibited in many countries. These products were created to combine such characteristics as low price, ease of spreading, the taste of real oil.

Margarine technology

The main part of margarine technology is hydrogenation

Opponents [ Who?] argue that margarine is still healthier than butter, as it does not contain cholesterol.

In response to the challenge of hygienists related to the problem of trans fats, the technology and, most importantly, state requirements for labeling margarines have changed somewhat. Margarine manufacturers have begun making and selling a range of products with less or no trans fats. In particular, tube margarine sometimes contains less trans fat than bar margarine, but tube margarine tends to be too soft, making it unsuitable for baking.

On the market food products now also on sale spreads. The technology of their production is similar to the production of margarine. The difference between a spread and margarine is that the use of hydrogenated fats is limited in spreads and the content of trans-fatty acids is regulated (GOST R 52100-2003, "Spreads and melted mixtures. General specifications.”), and for margarine there are practically no such restrictions.

Notes

Literature

• V. N. Tyutyunnikova, G. L. Yukhnovsky, A. L. Markman. Fat processing technology. Moscow: Pishchepromizdat, 1950.
• The main directions of development of the oil and fat industry for 1986-1990. // Materials for the meeting of the scientific and technical council of NPO Maslozhirprom. L.: 1985.
• national standard Russian Federation GOST R 52178-2003. Margarines. General specifications.
• Federal Law of June 24, 2008 No. 90-FZ " Technical regulation for fat and oil products

Notes

Links

• // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.

The culinary industry has been using margarine, which is based on water, in combination with vegetable oil for many years. What is margarine? What makes him stand out? Margarine, whose composition is very different from a large number of products, is used in Food Industry. It contains a large number of different fats:

It contains a large number of different fats:

• Animals;
• refined;
• Hydrogenated.

To give special palatability, specially added:

• Nutritional supplements;
• Serum;
• Powdered milk;
• Sugar;
• Flavorings.

What are the types of margarine?

Russian legislation establishes several types of this product:

What ingredients are used to make margarine?

Any type of margarine basically contains vegetable oil:

Manufacturers claim that a product containing similar natural products, can not harm human health. Its fat content is low. However, this is not entirely true. Vegetable oils undergo chemical treatment, the so-called hydrogenation. Because of this unsaturated fats, which are in the composition of vegetable oil, turn into saturated ones, which is facilitated by hydrogen molecules.

This process is necessary to create hard butter. Vegetable oil after such processing loses its natural properties. It becomes unsafe for humans. The product in its composition necessarily has water mixed with other substances:

• Salt;
• beta carotene;
• Preservatives - E202;
• Flavors;
• Starch;
• Sugar.

How to choose the right

Without this product, it is impossible to produce a fairly large number delicious foods. To minimize the harm from this product, when buying, you must consider several important rules:

• The package must indicate "GOST R 52179-2003". If a product conforms to this standard, it is considered to have the most high quality. The solid product is very high in trans fats;
• Therefore, it is better to purchase a soft product. The increase in harm from margarine is associated with improper storage. It is desirable that the packaging is made of foil. It will reduce light penetration and protect the product from high humidity. Of course, foil margarine is more expensive, however, it the quality is much higher.

Beneficial features

The benefits of margarine are expressed in the energy component, which is much higher than that of butter. Because of this, the body is quickly saturated, the feeling of hunger disappears. There is no cholesterol in the plant substrate. Therefore, if they are eaten in small quantities, there is no increase in the amount of bad cholesterol in the blood. Blood vessels are not at risk of developing the disease.

Scholars have different views on dietary properties margarine. Their opinions are not unanimous. Milk margarine has about the same calorie content as butter.

Its only advantage can be considered l volume of cooking oil. If you eat it with bread, then hunger will be satisfied much faster than eating sandwiches with butter.

This product contains vitamins and several types of trace elements. However, they got into the composition of the product artificially, so the benefits from them will be minimal.

What harm can margarine cause?

When margarine is made, natural products are used. However, after processing, they lose all their positive traits. The resulting substances are of artificial origin. They do not exist in real nature.

The digestive enzymes of the human body are not able to process such chemistry, which adversely affects human health. Trans fats are very different from real natural fats. When using even a small the amount of these fats there is a rapid metabolic disorder.

Biochemical processes in the body begin to proceed incorrectly. The body tries to remove the harmful decay products that appeared after such reactions. He has to use all the energy he has. To replenish it, a person again begins to eat margarine. As a result, various chronic diseases arise, a person is rapidly gaining excess weight.

For female body, the use of trans fats, the harm of which is expressed in the appearance excess weight, contraindicated. The appearance of cellulite in a woman is also associated with the consumption of this product. In this case, the main amount of trans fats is deposited in the adipose subcutaneous tissue. Lead full list diseases in women, which causes eating margarine, is quite difficult. However, the main ones are:

• Weakened immunity;
• Diabetes;
• Oncological diseases, such as breast cancer;
• Born children differ in very small weight;
• The quality of breast milk is deteriorating;

If a man regularly eats margarine, the amount of testosterone decreases. This male hormone affects the quality of sperm, possibly infertility.

It is very difficult to get rid of the harm that has been done to the body by such nutrition. It will take almost two years to eat only diet food. We'll have to forget about any products that include margarine. It will be quite difficult to do this, since in any confectionery and baking must have margarine, and children love them so much.

European countries also manufacture this product. But for this, a different technology is used. They use interesterification. chemical reactions that occur during this process do not form trans fats.

Today, Russia has begun to use this technology. Advertising convinces that now it has become harmless and useful. However, when buying, be sure to read what is written on the package. Features of the production technology are indicated necessarily. Product created by new technology, costs much more than margarine, which has hydrogenated fats.

The Russian consumer rarely buys such an expensive product, he prefers to save money, harming his health.

Summarize

Buying cheap product, remember that a little time will pass, the harm of margarine will be expressed in the appearance of diseases, the treatment of which will require much more money. Therefore, you should forget about margarine and buy some butter. Thus, you will be able to maintain the health of people close to you.