Margarine is used today by housewives not only for baking, but also as a substitute for butter for sandwiches. Is it worth it to eat? What is a good quality margarine, what is a spread, and how much damage does it have?
Margarine, the composition of which is constantly changing, appeared in France when Napoleon ordered to create a product that will become cheaper than butter and will satisfy the middle class in price and quality. From there, this artificial fat spread throughout Europe and today occupies a large niche in food production.
Margarine: composition and production process
At the heart of this product is vegetable oil, in addition, it contains animal fats and milk. The oils used in the production of margarine necessarily undergo the refining process, so they should have a neutral taste and smell. It is the fat base that provides the plasticity of the product. Milk gives the margarine a creamy taste, for this it can be fermented. But still, the amount of milk to give a creamy taste is not enough, therefore, flavors are used. In order to obtain a stable emulsion, an emulsifier is introduced into the mass, and a dye is added to impart color. Of course, not without salt and sugar.
Stages of margarine production:
- First, the fat base is prepared, it is created in such a way that its melting point is about 33 degrees, then this composition is heated and the dye is mixed with it.
- Milk is prepared separately with the addition of all soluble components (salt, sugar, flavorings), then the two compositions are mixed into a coarse dispersed suspension.
- After this, the suspension enters a special apparatus, which turns this composition into an emulsion that can hold its shape.
- Then the margarine is cooled and crystallized.
- The last stage is packaging and packaging.
Today there is another kind of margarine - spread. It is made for sandwiches and remains soft even after cooling. The composition of the spread is more useful than margarine, its composition is regulated by law, the spread should contain no more than 8% trans fats, but margarine does not have such standards, therefore it is not always possible to control its quality.
Margarine: types
Basically produce three types of margarine:
- Solid (culinary) margarine, which is most often used for baking, it has an unattractive appearance (does not contain dyes) and carries a lot of animal fats.
- Sandwich margarine, which includes a mixture of animal and vegetable fats, is very popular. They are most often replaced with butter due to the relatively low cost.
- Vegetable margarine is the most useful of all the available types for today. It is made from vegetable fats (soy, cotton, olive), carries the smallest amount of fatty acids and is free of cholesterol. The most useful is margarine based on palm and coconut oils, since they do not contain trans fats.
Margarine: harm and benefit
When heated, the saturated acids that make up the margarine undergo changes and become not entirely useful to humans, so you cannot replace all the fats in your diet with margarine.
Margarine, the composition of which provides a stable structure, is very convenient to use in cooking, which is what housewives around the world do. Foods with a high content of margarine are fatty, oils give a more pleasant taste, but make the food less healthy.
Those who replace butter with margarine in the hope of losing weight are partly mistaken. This is due to the fact that the number of calories in these two products is almost the same, but the ratio of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids varies. Trans fats increase the risk of developing atherosclerosis, so margarine is not advisable for people with heart disease.
Nutritionists advise replacing margarine with any vegetable oil.