Butter or margarine: which table spreads are best?

Kiwis love their spreads. Every year, we churn through millions of dollars on butter and margarine. however, some spreads are better than others for your waist and the planet. We ’ ve assessed 44 products to see what ’ south in them and calculated their health star ratings .

Chewing the fat

The chief ingredient in butter and most table spreads is fatten. Butter has about 80 percentage adipose tissue and the table spreads in our sketch ranged from 41 to 78 percentage .
But not all these fats are the like. Fats and oils are comprised of fatso acids – saturated, trans, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. Different oils and fats have varying levels of these fatso acids ( see “ All about fat ” ).

It ’ s the impregnate fatten, together with the energy and sodium, that influence the health asterisk ratings for board spreads. Health star topology ratings assess a food on its overall nutrition – half a headliner to five stars ( the more stars the better ) . No spreads in our survey earned five stars. Eight spreads achieved four : Essentials Table Spread, Flora Light, Gold’n Canola Lite, MeadowLea Lite, Pams Lite Canola Spread, Pams Lite Olive Spread, Sunrise Table Spread and Value Table Spread .
The saturated fatten contented of these spreads was 12.4 percentage or less and they had moderate sodium levels. That ’ s a draw less than regular butter, which has about 50 percentage saturated fat and higher sodium so alone gets half a star. The unsalted stuff had depleted sodium levels, but its high saturated fat subject means it hush alone earns one star topology .
Butter blends – spreads that combine butter or buttermilk, softened with vegetable oil – have less saturate fat. Country Soft Lite gets three-and-a-half stars. Country Soft, Flora Buttery and Pams Buttery Spread are three-star spreads .
What about olive oil-based spreads ? They ranged from two stars ( Olivani Buttery ) to four ( Pams Lite Olive Spread ) .
You might be surprised the independent oil in these spreads isn ’ t necessarily olive anoint. Pams Olive Spread contained 21 percentage. other brands contained less. other oils used were canola oil, decoration or unspecified vegetable fats .
It ’ s a alike history with other spreads touting a particular vegetable oil. For exercise, Olivani Avocado only contains 7.5 percentage avocado oil, with unspecified oils making up a third of the circulate .

The good oil?

many postpone spreads didn ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate specify the type of anoint they contained. There ’ randomness no prerequisite for manufacturers to disclose this information unless the vegetable oil is a characterising ingredient ( such as olive petroleum in an olive oil spread ) .
alternatively, you might find the catch-all “ vegetable anoint ” in the ingredients number. There ’ mho a good prospect it could be palm petroleum .
Palm anoint and palm kernel oil are senior high school in saturate fatness. Their production is besides linked to deforestation in Indonesia and Malaysia, and destroying the habitat of queer species such as the orangutan and rhinoceros .
A 2018 study published in the journal Science estimated palm oil production besides generated more greenhouse natural gas emissions than soy, olive, rapeseed or sunflower oil .
To quell criticisms, the industry-led Roundtable on sustainable Palm Oil was set up to certify “ good ” oil. however, it ’ randomness been criticised because of inadequate traceability and failure to guarantee the oil that ends up in products is sustainably produced .
Supermarket home brand spreads ( Essentials, Pams and Value ) were upfront and list decoration oil in their ingredients .
We asked other companies to disclose what vegetable oils were in their products.

Fonterra ( Anchor Original and Country Soft spreads ) said palm petroleum is the main vegetable oil in its spreads. Goodman Fielder ( MeadowLea, Olivani, Sunrise, Gold ’ n Canola and Tararua spreads ), Upfield ( Flora ) and Nuttelex declined to provide the information .

The butter debate

Butter has gained favor as a “ natural ” choice. But when it comes to making a green choice, there ’ sulfur far-flung agreement we need to cut rear on dairy. This is chiefly due to methane emissions, use of nitrogen-containing fertilisers and effects on our waterways .
From a health position, the “ butter is better ” mantra besides doesn ’ thyroxine stack astir well . University of Otago professor in homo nutrition and medicine Jim Mann said there ’ s a huge consistency of attest suggesting the benefits of replacing saturated fat with poly and monounsaturated fats .
“ Using table spreads as a substitute for butter is one way of helping achieve this. other options include using avocado, hummus and nut or seed butters, ” Professor Mann said .
Dave Monro, Heart Foundation chief adviser food and nutrition, said the evidence is gain that replacing saturated fatten with unsaturated fats, particularly polyunsaturated, is beneficial for the heart .
There ’ s a impregnable connect between saturated fats, elevated blood cholesterol and heart disease, Monro said .
“ It ’ s besides authoritative to remember that eating large amounts of fat international relations and security network ’ thyroxine commodity for us. All fats are energy-dense and we need to be conscious of overall fat consumption in the context of a goodly diet. ”
The World Health Organization recommends we get less than 10 percentage of our energy consumption from saturated fats .

All about fat

Saturated fat raises the full cholesterol and levels of “ bad ” LDL ( low-density lipoprotein ) cholesterol in your rake. saturated fats can besides promote rake curdle, which can lead to heart attacks or stroke. Saturated fats are found in animal fats, adenine well as palm and coconut petroleum. In butter, the fatness comes from cream .
Trans fat raises total cholesterol and LDLs, and may besides decrease your levels of “ good ” HDL ( high-density lipoprotein ) cholesterol. small amounts of trans fats occur naturally in butter but harmful trans fats are formed when liquid oils are hydrogenated to harden them and make them more stable to use. Most table spreads now contain less than one percentage trans fats – a huge improvement on the eight percentage some products contained in our previous surveys .
Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats are “ estimable ” fats. They help lower LDLs and monounsaturates are thought to raise HDLs. Canola, avocado and olive oils are eminent in monounsaturates. Sunflower and soy bean oils are high in polyunsaturates .

Plant sterols

Flora Pro-activ spreads incorporate plant sterols, natural substances that have a like structure to cholesterol and trick the digestive system into absorbing less of the real stuff.

Studies report regular consumption of cholesterol-lowering spreads may reduce your “ bad ” cholesterol. But these products are pricier than regular spreads and you have to eat about 25g of the scatter daily to get that charge of profit – the equivalent of smearing about five teaspoons on your toast .
If you ’ re taking medication to lower your cholesterol, check with your doctor whether including plant sterols in your diet will provide any extra benefits. These spreads give no benefits if your cholesterol levels are normal .

What’s in your table spread?

• Vegetable oil: The main ingredient in most table spreads is vegetable oil. Common oils used are canola, palm and sunflower.
• Water: The less fat in the table spread, the more water it contains. For some lower-fat spreads, water is the main ingredient.
• Emulsifier: This is added to keep the oil and water mixed together. Butter contains lecithin, a natural emulsifier.
• Salt: Salt (sodium chloride) adds flavour but too much sodium is bad for your health.
• Colour and flavours: Milk fat is sometimes added to give the spread a dairy flavour and to enhance “mouthfeel” of the spread. Colour is often added to get the yellow colour we expect in a table spread.
• Preservatives: These are added to prevent spoilage.
• Acidity regulator: An acid, such as citric or lactic, is used to control the pH (acidity). This affects microbial growth and oxidation.
• Vitamins: Vitamins A, D and E can be added. Most table spreads have added vitamins.

Compare spreads

beginning : https://nutritionline.net
Category : Healthy