CHAPTER XV 

 MARGARINE 



THE material long sold as oleomargarine met a deter- 

 mined and probably deserved opposition, particularly 

 as it was marketed in imitation and semblance of butter. 

 In its present form and under the conditions of its sale, 

 it has now become a recognized product in the market 

 and may be here considered. 



176. History. Margarine was first made by Mege- 

 Mouries, a French chemist, in 1870. Shortly before the 

 Franco-German war, Emperor Napoleon III requested 

 Mege-Mouries to investigate the problem of obtaining 

 a substitute for butter that would cost less. The Paris 

 Health Council passed a regulation on April 12, 1872, 

 sanctioning the new product as a substitute for butter. It 

 also made the stipulation that this substitute was not 

 to be sold under the name of butter. It was called 

 margarine-mouries. The process of Mege-Mouries con- 

 sisted in separating a portion of stearin from the best 

 kidney fat, which is converted into a fat possessing char- 

 acteristics similar to butter. Thus this method rendered 

 the use of animal body fat possible as a butter substitute. 

 Mouries melted the fat in a steam vat at a temperature of 

 113 F. He purified it by settling and graining and then 

 cut it in squares, tied these in small cloths, and pressed 

 them. This gave 40 to 50 per cent stearin and 50 to 



220 



