PROPERTIES OF COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE MARG ARINE AND BUTTER ON THE MARKET IN FRANCE AND SPAIN

A study was made on physical and chemical properties of commercially a vailable margarine and butter on the market in France and Spain. These products, collected in France and Spain, comprized margarine, low fat spread, dairy spread, and butter, including the high linoleic type in former two kinds, and the compound type in latter two kinds. (1) Whil e all brands of margarine and butter in France contained above 80% fat , some brands of them in Spain contained below 80% fat, which were out of the international standards. In France, fat contents in low fat an d dairy spreads could divided into two groups of about 40% and 60%, bu t these products were scarcely found in spanish supermarkets. The nick el content was low (0.06 ppm or less) in french products, but relative ly high (above 0.3 ppm) in three brands of spanish products. (2) On ma rgarine and low fat spread, in France, vitamin A (retinol) was fortifi ed in only one bland, but vitamin A and D3 were fortified in almost al l of them in Spain, in the same cases of Germany and England previousl y reported. Sorbic acid was detected in most samples except butter in France and Spain, and BHA, BHT, dodecyl gallate and/or benzoic acid we re detected in some of them in Spain. (3) Percentages of c, c-18: 2 to total fatty acids in the high linoleic type were not less than 45% in France and 35 % in Spain, and that type also contained relatively hig h levels of tocopherols (xBAR : total, 38.1 alpha-form, 20.0 mg/100 g) . Trans-form fatty acids were detected in all samples.