472 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. VII., No. 175 



out into a tank of cold water, where it solidifies 

 into a granular mass which is known in the trade 

 as ' oleo-oil,' or simply ' oleo.' The name ' oil ' is 

 somewhat misleading, as the product is a granular 

 solid of a slightly yellow color. Fresh leaf-lard, 

 treated in substantially the same way as the beef- 

 tallow, yields the ' neutral lard,' or ' neutral,' of 

 the trade, also a granular solid of a white color. 



The objects of this treatment are twofold, — 

 first, to produce fats as free as possible from taste 

 or odor ; second, to remove some of the difficultly 

 fusible stearine and palmitine in order that the 

 finished product may melt readily in the mouth. 



Having thus secured the fats in proper condi- 

 tion, the manufacturer proceeds to mix the ' oleo ' 

 and 'neutral,' — the proportions varying accord- 

 ing to the destination of the product ; a warm 

 climate calling for more ' oleo,' a cold one for 

 more ' neutral,' — and to flavor the mixture with 

 butter. This flavoring is conducted in large, 

 steam- jacketed vessels provided with revolving 

 paddles, by which their contents can be thor- 

 oughly agitated. Here the 'oleo' and ' neutral ' 

 are melted, and thoroughly agitated with a cer- 

 tain proportion of milk, or sometimes of cream, 

 and a proper amount of butter-color. Forty-eight 

 gallons of milk per two thousand pounds of prod- 

 uct are stated to be a common proportion. After 

 sufficient agitation, the melted mass is run into 

 cold water, and as it cools is broken up by paddles 

 so as to granulate the mass. After thorough 

 washing, it is salted and worked exactly like 

 butter. The product is known as oleomargarine. 

 Although it contains hardly more than a trace of 

 butter-fat, the latter flavors the whole mass so 

 strongly that when well salted, as it usually is, it 

 might readily pass with an inexpert or careless 

 consumer for a rather flavorless butter. Oleo- 

 margarine is the cheapest product made. By 

 adding to the material in the agitator, or 'churn,' 

 more or less pure butter, what is known as but- 

 terine is produced , two grades of which are com- 

 monly sold; viz., 'creamery butterine,' contain- 

 ing more, and ' dairy butterine,' containing less 

 butter. 



Healthfulness. — Very exaggerated and absurd 

 statements have been made, especially by the 

 dairymen and their organs, regarding the un- 

 healthfulness of butterine and oleomargarine. 

 The charges have in general been, that the fat 

 used is practically uncooked, and that raw animal 

 fat is umvholesome ; that filthy fat, and fat from 

 diseased animals, are used, and that the product 

 contains, or is liable to contain, the germs of 

 disease ; and that, in cleansing these diseased and 

 filthy fats, dangerous chemicals are used, which 

 are not subsequently completely removed. 



That the fats used are of themselves unwhole- 

 some, there is no proof whatever. They contain 

 nothing that butter-fat does not also contain, and 

 differ from it only by the absence of about six per 

 cent of the glycerides of certain soluble fatty 

 acids ; viz., caprinic, caprylic, capronic, and bu- 

 tyric acids. The only experiments upon the di- 

 gestibility of imitation butter are two, by A. A. 

 Mayer, upon oleomargarine. These showed a 

 difference of only about two per cent in favor of 

 butter. That the higher flavor of butter acting 

 upon the nervous system would give it a greater 

 nutritive value than the flavorless ' neutral ' or 

 ' oleo,' may be conceded ; but that an article which 

 even experts fail to distinguish from genuine 

 butter is at any serious disadvantage in this re- 

 spect, may well be doubted. 



The manufacturers claim that imitation butter 

 can only be made from the best quality of fat from 

 freshly killed animals, and I know of no evidence 

 which disproves their assertions. The sensational 

 article recently published in a prominent agricul- 

 tural paper in the north-west, accompanied by 

 cuts of the numerous organisms found in butter- 

 ine, is of no significance in this connection, both 

 because the species described are all harmless, 

 and because no comparative examinations of 

 genuine butter were made. It is highly probable 

 that many samples of the latter would show as 

 miscellaneous an assortment of formidable-look- 

 ing, harmless organisms as did the butterine. 



On the other hand, however, there is at present 

 no guaranty, except the statement of the manu- 

 facturers, that diseased fat is not or can not be 

 used ; the manufacture being conducted entirely 

 without any official inspection, and visitors being 

 in most (not all) cases excluded. I believe that 

 the chances of disease being conveyed in this way 

 are small, but they are not yet proved to be non- 

 existent. 



As regards filthy processes of manufacture, it 

 may safely be asserted that butterine could not 

 successfully imitate butter were it not as clean as 

 most things are which pass for clean in this dirty 

 world. 



The charge that dangerous chemicals are used 

 in the manufacture may be disposed of in a few 

 words. If a dangerous amount of any chemical 

 which is claimed to be used were left in the fin- 

 ished product, the latter would be inedible. Should 

 traces of these chemicals be found, their signifi- 

 cance would not lie in themselves, but in the 

 indication they would furnish that the original 

 fats were impure and required chemical treat- 

 ment. 



FrauduU nt safe. — The evil feature of the trade 

 in imitation butter is that it is largely fraudulent. 



