They have a beautiful cream shade and bring us comfort every morning when waking up is difficult. These popular products are butters and margarines, these great breakfast classics. However, if we love them without counting, they nevertheless deserve to be scrutinized, even criticized… Their composition is in fact not always as good as it seems. In his “Buying guide to eating well”, Dr Jean-Michel Cohen, nutritionist, reveals 4 of them to never consume.
Elle & Vire light sweet butter 41% fat
Water, concentrated butter, buttermilk, starch, vegetable fibers, paprika concentrate… Under its appearance of “healthy” butter, this product disappoints with its quality.
“We read “without additives” when it is a product recomposed from concentrated butter then diluted with water, which contains starch, flavorings, milk proteins and vegetable fibers. We are far from the traditional butter recipe! €8.50/kilo”, warns the doctor.
Half-salt spread 15% from MG Bridelight
Mono-and diglycerides of fatty acids (E471), polyglycerol polyricinoleate (E476), cellulose gum (E446), potassium sorbate (E202)… There’s more than just good fat in this Bridelight butter!
“Reading the list of ingredients is frightening as there are clearly too many additives!”, admits the expert.
Tasty and light Le Fleurier
Vegetable oils and stearin 40% (rapeseed, coconut, palm), water, butter (15.5%), rehydrated skimmed milk, emulsifiers, potassium sorbate… Despite its traditional appearance thanks to its checkered packaging, there is nothing classic or respectable about this butter.
“Halfway between margarine and butter, this product ultimately combines the disadvantages of both: saturated vegetable fats, butter and therefore a cholesterol intake, but also the presence of additives. Consumption of this product is of little interest!”, warns Dr. Jean-Michel Cohen.
Chef St Hubert’s secret half-salted margarine
Another margarine with misleading marketing: no chef’s recipe here, but a product full of bad fats.
“This Chef’s Secret is mainly a margarine which contains half the fats in saturated form. Too bad!”, regrets the nutritionist.
What alternatives should we ultimately turn to?
French milk, low-fat butter without additives, good quality oils, meaningful enrichments (vitamin A, vitamin D): certain butters and margarines are distinguished not by their Nutri-Score rating (since they are fat, they are often rated C, D or E) but by their qualitative ingredients. These are:
- Extra-fine sweet butter, from Belleville-sur-vie Grand Fermage;
- Light and tasty semi-salted butter, President;
- Omega 3, Golden Fruit;
- Planta fine soft, Planta fine.
Something to spread even more without feeling guilty!