Butter or margarine?

I'm going to have a look at the contents of what we in everyday life call "butter". I'll also look at the contents of actual butter and margarine.

"Lätta" margarine. (27kr/kg) 
Ingredients: Water,  vegetable fat, rapeseed oil, buttermilk, modified starch, salt, emulsifying agents, preservatives, acidity regulators, aroma compound, vitamin A and D.



"Becel" (38kr/kg) 
Ingredients: Water, vegetable oil, vegetable fat, gelatin(?!), salt, emulsifying agents, preservatives, acidity regulators, aroma compound, vitamin A and D.

"Svenskt Smör" Butter (56kr/kg)
Ingredients: Pasteurised cream, lactic acid starter culture, salt



 

"Milda" margarine (26kr/kg)
Ingredients: Vegetable fat, vegetable oil, water, whey, salt, emulsifying agents, aroma compound, vitamin A and D.




So what do you put on your sandwich? Water, oil, aroma compound and additives (margarine) or butter?

Mini-dictionary:
Vegetable fat/oil: Oil and fat from plants. For example from rapeseed or palm trees.
Emulsifying agent: An agent used to mix two substances that wouldn't normally mix. For example oil and water.
Aroma compound: (Often chemical) compounds used to add a certain flavour.
Whey:  A product left when making cheese. Mostly water, but it also contains milk sugar and lactic acid.

Real butter is made from cream and does not contain any vegetable fat or oil, therefore, no emulsifying agents are needed. Since it's already butter, there's no need for aroma compounds that add butter flavour. The butter is made from cream, so it already contains everything that whey contains. If you buy real butter, it doesn't have to contain a bunch of shady ingredients, but if a company wants to use the cheaper vegetable fat, they'll need to add a lot of things to ensure that the consumers still think it's butter.

The real butter from "Svenskt smör" is the one with the highest price, but it is also the one with the best ingredients. Among the other "butter", Becel is very expensive compared to what it actually contains. Remember to look at both the pricing and the list of contents the next time you buy butter.