{"id":1165,"date":"2019-08-23T17:14:09","date_gmt":"2019-08-23T17:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.veganfriendly.org.uk\/?post_type=is_it_vegan&p=1165"},"modified":"2020-12-02T19:09:46","modified_gmt":"2020-12-02T19:09:46","slug":"margarine","status":"publish","type":"is_it_vegan","link":"https:\/\/www.veganfriendly.org.uk\/is-it-vegan\/margarine\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Margarine Vegan?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Margarine\"Whether you are a vegan or not, most people with even a basic understanding of veganism and nutrition are aware that butter is not vegan. But what about margarine – the most obvious alternative to butter (other than Vegan Butter<\/a>, that is)?<\/p>\n

As ever, we\u2019ll answer the simple question, is margarine vegan?<\/em> but we\u2019ll also look in more detail at what margarine is and why it might, or might not, be vegan friendly.<\/p>\n

Is Margarine Vegan Friendly?<\/h2>\n

We\u2019ll cut straight to the chase for all you busy vegans, those thinking about becoming vegans and those cooking for vegans tonight. Sorry busy people, but unfortunately life isn\u2019t that simple. As with many of the foods we\u2019ve written about in the Is It Vegan?<\/a> area of our site, some margarine is vegan and some isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Clearly, this is why there is confusion surrounding margarine, because there isn\u2019t a simple yes or no answer. Luckily, we\u2019re here to help. We will explain what goes into some margarines that makes them non-vegan and what you need to be looking out for.<\/p>\n

What is Margarine?<\/h3>\n

\"Margarine<\/p>\n

There are many questions that one would intuitively feel are so simple as to be not worth bothering to ask. On closer inspection and when trying to formulate an answer, however, often things are not so obvious. What is margarine?<\/em> falls into that category.<\/p>\n

So, what do we mean by margarine? Well, the concise definition given by the Oxford dictionary is that margarine is \u201ca butter substitute made from vegetable oils or animal fats\u201d. That\u2019s a pretty good definition in truth, but in modern times, margarine has come to be made from a wider and wider range of base ingredients.<\/p>\n

On top of that, there are the usual additives that go into many processed foods and frequently have vegans wracking their brains or checking Google. So, whilst it would at first glance seem simple (made from vegetable oil = vegan, made from animal fats = not vegan), sadly, that isn\u2019t quite the case.<\/p>\n

Clearly if a spread has been made from animal fat, then it isn\u2019t vegan. However, in truth, the vast majority of margarine these days is made from vegetable fats. The first ever margarine was made from beef fat and we\u2019ll look at that below in our guaranteed-to-thrill History of Margarine<\/a> section.<\/p>\n

However, for a long time now margarine has been viewed as a healthier alternative to butter. Before veganism became relatively mainstream, the primary reason people sought an alternative to butter was to reduce the amount of saturated and animal fat they consumed. As such, most modern margarines are made from olive, soy, sunflower, rapeseed or cottonseed oil.<\/p>\n

So, if margarine is not normally made from animal fats but from plants, why then are some margarines still not vegan friendly? As alluded to above, it is the various additives manufacturers use that cause the problems and now we\u2019ll look more closely at what specifically those might be.<\/p>\n

Non-Vegan Margarine<\/h2>\n

As discussed, margarine made from animal fat, rare though it may be, is obviously not suitable for vegans. But below is a list of ingredients that sometimes render vegetable-based spreads as non-vegan.<\/p>\n

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