A Makeover for Margarine?

Ever wonder why margarine is darker than butter? It’s the law. Soon after a Frenchman created this vegetable-oil spread in 1870. American dairy groups – concerned that consumers would mistake it for butter – lobbied to legislate its color. Subsequently, some state laws prohibited the sale of yellow margarine; others required that it be pink.

Through World War II, many manufacturers sold the white spread with capsules of yellow dye, so homemakers could tint their own. One by one, state regulations softened, and in 1967, Wisconsin, the last holdout, repealed its ban on yellow margarine.

Today, all margarine is tinted yellow with the natural pigment beta-carotene – but the Food and Drug Administration still sets color boundaries. Now, margarine makers want all restrictions repealed so they can make their spreads any yellow, even pale butter-yellow.