Reader Rich says:
I’ve been a fan and loyal devotee of Parkay Margarine since I was a kid. Imagine the letdown and disappointment when I picked up a new tub of the margarine and felt it was remarkably lighter in weight. It looks like whipping a bunch of air into a pound of margarine makes it 20% lighter and the same cost to the consumer. After searching all over for a tub of “original” to compare it to, I found that the “new” Parkay is now 13 ounces instead of 16 ounces. Not only that, but it comes in the same sized tub and costs the same too.
Further investigation shows no reference to this “new” spread on the Parkay Website and no “original” to be found anywhere.
Bummer…
Rich H
Grand Rapids, MI
It seems that “new” Parkay contains a different amount of vegetable oil as well. We’re not familiar with Parkay, what’s going on here?
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@Sohp101: Earth Balance is “a load of bull?” Do you know what it is, and have you tried it? It’s primarily, if not completely, “good fat” (unsaturated), as opposed to butter’s load of saturated fat and cholesterol.
It’s like this idiotic double-churned ice cream, which is basically fluffed with air for the same price.
Margaret Thatcher’s first ever job was in a research laboratory of a ice-cream manufacturer.
Her work? Find out ways of putting more air into the ice-cream.
Now that explains everything else…
This kind of stuff drives me nuts! I wonder how many products are downsized and we don’t notice the difference?
Hellmans reduced the size of their mayo from 32 oz jars to 30 oz jars and kept the price the same.
They’re very sneaky about it.
@DallasDMD: Does the packaging state the correct weight/volume? Then it’s not deception and trickery. Get some perspective, man.
I’d like everyone to note that margarine is deodorized, hydrogenated vegetable oil. That’s when they do it in the factory. When it happens at home, it’s called rancid. All they’re doing now is fully hydrogenating it so that it’s not a trans fat. It’s still crap.
Did you know that it used to be a law in Wisconsin (and was it Illinois too?) that margarine couldn’t be sold with the yellow food coloring in it? It came in it’s original waxy white color. It would come with a little pil-pak thing that you’d pop and squish around to make the “oleo” yellow like butter.
Have you also noticed that heart disease and margarine (and vegetable shortening) use correlate?
Eat butter.
@Jean Naimard: Ice cream is supposed to have air in it. It’s called overrun. The FDA (or the USDA?) has rules for how much air can and can’t be in iced-cream.
@infinitemojo: Maybe your right, it isnt dishonest. That said I think I will open a gas station and charge by the “Unit” initially my “Unit” will equal one US gallon and my price will be competitive.
Then in a month or so when gas prices go through the roof, instead of increasing the price for my unit I will simply redeclare in 12 point type on my pumps that a “Unit” is only equal to 0.5Gal US.
“Ugh. Margarine. Gross. I don’t even know what it is. Is it even a food?” – paraphrase from Anthony Bourdain.
Margin is gross, unless it’s SmartBalance. Otherwise I say go for salted butter.
As a hydrogenated oil product, margarine is quite poisonous, so, more air and less product is better for you!