h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Here's a little thing I wrote about butter and margarine... Shorter than my usual!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A597071

Hi!

I've just started reading your article and I have a small quibble. You say that butter is made from animal fat but isn't "animal fat" a term used for the fat taken from a dead animal? Butter is a dairy product and contains the fat from milk (which I know comes from an animal) and I don't really think this would count as animal fat.

I'll be reading further though - this article looks interesting!

Agreeing w/ Liz: Animal fat would be lard, no? (I mean everyone knows where the butter comes from, but animal fat sounds strange)

Great entry.

You might mention that margarine can cause a different set of health issues...

...and use °C instead of °F

great entry - haven't I said that?

Cheers,

HELL

Actually, animal fat is any fat produced by an animal. Therefore, the oil that my skin produces can be called animal fat - although I don't think you'd want to cook with it. I might be able to rephrase for clarity and call it milk fat, but all my sources call it 'animal' fat. Any suggestions?

Hell - I don't know what the centigrade equivalent is of that temperature; I figured I'd leave it up to some lucky sub-ed to figure that out...

Good suggestion, Will - I've added some info about the dangers of hydrogenated oils and trans-fats.

Great entry!

The only thing I can say is that you could make the last bit ("So which one do you use ...") stand out as a new para or better, a of its own.


Bossel (Scout)

This article is very good - and highly informative.

Hi - good stuff.

67 degrees F is 19.44 Celsius (19 rounded down - call it 20 )

I like the article - nice and informative. I'd personally like to see some typical figures on energy content (calories or joules) as as I recall it there is not much difference between the two - margarine only has marginally less energy in it than butter.
Perhaps one should mention that in moderation, butter is actually good for you - it's just most of us eat far too much of it.

One thing I'd like to know is what exactly 'I can't Believe its Not Butter', 'Utterly Buttterly', 'Butterlicious' etc are. Are they simply margarines with added butter milk or what?
Also, what of the relatively new Spreadable butters - what do they do to make it spreadable from the fridge (and so damned expensive).

Finally, what of products such as Benecol that claim to actually reduce cholesterol now.

You don't have to include these if you don't want to - it's just me being interested.

BTW. For me - butter wins usually because of the taste. I often resort back to margarines though because I don't have a microwave and get fed up not being able to spread it.



Orcus

The butter-tasting margarines have some sort of dried butter solids in them that add the flavor but not the fat... I think. What we call spreads contain less than 80% oil, and make up for it with water and preservatives. Got some cheap margarine the other day, and noticed just last night that the package said 'Margarine Spread - 53% Vegetable Oil.' Erk. The term 'spread' refers to the amount of oil, rather than the form it's in - my cheapo margarine spread is in stick form.

I've heard about Benecol - don't know much about it, though. Their website says that Benecol contains a 'unique ingredient' proven to block cholesterol from being absorbed into your body. They don't say what the unique ingredient is, which makes me a little suspicious. It's possible that they've found a new fat that can't be absorbed, but they're awfully close-mouthed about how their product works.

I personally love butter, but usually get margarine. I don't know why - I guess it's because I grew up with margarine. There are very few things as yummy as a piece of bread that's been toasted in the oven with a few pats of butter on top. Or butter cookies. Or - well, you get the idea.

Thanks for the Celsius equivalent - I'll put that in.

Apparently (an I heard a consumer programme on about it the other day). Benecol *can* reduce cholesterol but its not worth eating unless you already have a serious problem with that. They do have a genuine claim but *have* been successfully prosecuted for overexaggerating

Editorial Note: This conversation has been moved from 'Peer Review' to 'Butter and Margarine'.

This thread has been moved out of the Peer Review Forum because your entry has now been recommended for the Edited Guide.

You can find out what will happen to your entry here: http://www.h2g2.com/SubEditors-Process

Congratulations!

*ahem!*
*starts reading aloud from a parchment scroll*

hear ye, hear ye! this Royal proclamation from the Towers!
this entry hath been selected for invitation to the Editorial Room(http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/C620), where it will receive much dressing-up and pretty bits and such, after which it shall be displayed on the Front Page. anon, when..... no, wait, whence, no, hold on.....*flips through a little book and mumbles to self* .....no, when was right....*ahem!* anon, when all this is ended, thou shalt....excuse me, shall..... receive a notice to inform you of it. a benediction on you for writing for the Guide! and for your recommendation(to PR), without which the entry would never have been selected. thank you all and goodnight, you've been a wonderful audience! Lake Wubagon, where the women are strong, the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.(if i remember the closing thing, that is.)

just thought i'd try something odd today.

ooops!

Thanks for posting that temperature conversion.

The Sub-editor

Bet you still had to check it though

Uh oh.

Where'd I put that calculator.

Whoo-hoo - thanks!



I'd love to see the artist whip up some sort of Rube Goldberg contraption for this piece...

- Lentilla