Margarine: composition and properties of the product

Margarine is now used by the hostesses not only for baking, but also as a substitute for butter for sandwiches. Is it worth it to eat? What is the quality margarine for the taste, what is spread and how much harm from it?

Margarine, whose composition is constantly changing, appeared in France, when Napoleon ordered the creation of a product that would be cheaper than butter and would satisfy the middle class for price and quality. From there, this artificial fat spread throughout Europe and now occupies a large niche in the production of food.

Margarine: composition and production process

This product is based on vegetable oil, in addition, it contains animal fats and milk. Oils used in the production of margarine, necessarily go through the refining process, so they should have a neutral taste and smell. It is the fat base that ensures 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, so use flavors. In order to obtain a stable emulsion, an emulsifier is introduced into the mass, and a dye is used to impart color. Of course, it does not do without salt and sugar.

Stages of production of margarine:

• First, the fat base is prepared, it is created in such a way that the temperature of its melting is about 33 degrees, then this composition is heated and the dye is admixed with it.
• Milk is prepared separately with the addition of all the soluble components (salt, sugar, flavors), then the two formulations are mixed into a coarse dispersion.
• After that, the slurry falls into a special apparatus, which turns this composition into an emulsion capable of keeping the 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, no more than 8% of trans fats should be contained in the spread, but margarine does not have such norms, therefore it is not always possible to check its quality.

Margarine: Species

Generally, three types of margarine are produced:

• 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 by butter in connection with a relatively low cost.
• Vegetable margarine is the most useful of all available species for today. It is made from vegetable fats (soybean, cottonseed, olive), carries the smallest amount of fatty acids and is free from 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 saturated acids, which are part of margarine, undergo changes and are not very useful for humans, so you can not substitute margarine for all fats in your diet.

Margarine, whose composition provides a stable structure, it is very convenient to use in cooking, which is done by the hostess of the whole world. Dishes with a high content of margarine are obtained fatty, oils give a more pleasant taste, but make the food less useful.

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 is different. Trans fats increase the risk of atherosclerosis, so margarine is not desirable to eat people with heart disease.

Dieticians advise to replace margarine with any vegetable oil.