Butter Vs Margarine: which is better?

If you’re making school lunches, this is a question you probably want answered: which is better? Butter or margarine? And of course, (like everything to do with our diets), there’s no one-size fits all answer. The battle between butter vs margarine goes on! We can tell you what the NSW  Fresh Tastes @ School Policy says, and what the Australian Guide to Health Eating suggests, and we can tell you what the Australian Heart Foundation says: they all steer toward recommending a thin spread of margarine over butter.

As with any argument, there’s always the other side of the coin. Even Rosemary Stanton (a reliable nutritionist and voice of reason) admits she opts for a little butter from time to time.  For every organisation that encourages margarine, there will be just as many who say butter is better. It’s not easy being a parent and trying to make the best choice for your child when there’s so much noise about who’s wrong and who’s right.

We’d like to try and present both sides of the discussion to help you make a well-informed decision that suits your family. First, let’s break down the pros and cons of each of these yellow spreads.

Butter

Pros: tastes great, all natural, no colouring or additives

Cons: contains around 50% saturated fat which is not good for heart health and can raise LDL cholesterol; hard to spread thinly

Margarine

Pros: made from vegetable oils it contains only 20% saturated fat and more mono and polyunsaturated fat that can help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol; easier to spread thinly

Cons: it’s a processed food that contains colouring (to make it look like butter) and preservatives

Looking at the Pros and Cons you can see why there’s so much arguing – ultimately, one isn’t better than the other: they’re just different. But that doesn’t help you decide which spread to put on your child’s sandwich.

If you’re a canteen, you should be sticking to the Fresh Tastes @ School Guidelines, which recommend a thin spread of polyunsaturated or monounsaturated margarine over butter.

“You have to look at your whole diet and think about what other foods your child is eating to decide what’s best for you,” says Jane Dibbs, a senior dietitian here at Healthy Kids. For instance, if you’re spreading butter on your child’s toast in the morning, then adding it to their sandwich, letting it melt on their pasta, as well as cooking with butter, you should cut back and look for alternatives. Keep in mind that butter isn’t the only place your child is getting saturated fats – don’t forget the other sources including discretionary foods such as biscuits, chips, crackers, sausages, and ice cream. It all adds up.

Once you’ve analysed your diet (what you cook with, what snacks you’re giving your kids, etc), you can make a well informed choice. A little butter isn’t a bad thing, but neither is a little margarine.  In fact, even though it’s not as exciting as choosing a side: variety is often the best way to ensure your child isn’t getting too much of any one thing.

Another good tip?  Keep in mind that you don’t have to choose solely between butter and margarine. There are plenty of other healthy spreads you can try such as avocado, hummus, mustard, tomato chutney or reduced-fat cream cheese. Vary your diet and your child’s diet for your best chance at staying healthy for the long term. Your best bet? Choosing foods from the five food groups that add nutritional value to your diet.

– HKA June 2014