Question 1

Why was yellow margarine illegal in the United States?

Accepted Answer

Dairy lobbies argued that dyeing margarine yellow tricked shoppers into thinking it was butter. To protect butter sales, many states banned yellow margarine outright or taxed colored versions heavily, forcing it to stay an unappetizing white for decades.

Question 2

Why is margarine naturally white instead of yellow?

Accepted Answer

Pure margarine is white like lard or tallow. Butter is yellow only because cows eating fresh spring grass take in beta-carotene, the pigment that colors carrots, which passes into the butterfat. Winter butter from hay-fed cows is far paler.

Question 3

Why did people knead dye into margarine at home?

Accepted Answer

Because coloring margarine in the factory was illegal, manufacturers sold it white with a separate capsule of yellow dye. Families broke the capsule and kneaded the color through the spread by hand, since coloring it at home was perfectly legal.

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The Color That Was Against the Law