History, manufacturing process

Margarine was discovered in 1869 by Hippolyte Mège Mouriès, a French food research chemist, in response to Napoleon III's request for a wholesome butter alternative. It is not entirely clear whether the primary aim was the betterment of the working classes or economics in the supply of food to the French army. In a laboratory, Mège Mouriès solidified purified fat, after which the resulting substance was pressed in a thin cloth, that formed stearine and discharged oil. This oil formed the basis of the butter substitute.

For the new product, Mège Mouriès used margarine acid, a fatty acid component isolated in 1813 by the Frenchman Michel Eugène Chevreuil. Analyzing the fatty acids that are the building blocks of fats, he singled out one and named it margaric acid, because of the lustrous pearly drops that reminded him of the Greek word for pearls i.e. margarites.

In 1871, Mège Mouriès sold his know-how to the Dutch firm Jurgens, nowadays part of Unilever. In the early days margarine contained two types of fat - a large proportion of animal fat and a small proportion of vegetable fat. Time passing, the small vegetable element increased. There were two stages in that process. First, by improving the process of refining vegetable oils, use could be made of a greater variety of liquid oils and a higher proportion of solid vegetable fats. Secondly, through the development of processes for turning liquid oils into solid fats on a commercial scale, use could be made of larger quantities of liquid vegetable oils.

See manufacturing process (either animated or static)