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“If It's Yellow, It Must Be Butter”: Margarine Regulation in North America Since 1886

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2009

Ruth Dupré
Ruth Dupré
Affiliation:
Associate Professor at the École des Hautes Études Commerciales de Montréal, 3000 Côte Sainte-Catherine, Montreal (Quebec)CanadaH3T 2A7. E-mail: ruth.dupre@hec.ca.
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Abstract

The first domestic food to be regulated by the federal government in the United States, margarine had a unique regulation history. No other food products has been so harshly treated throughtout the world. The American margarine policy up to the 1950s is generally considered remarkably severe. The Canadian policy was even more stringent and more enduring. The province of Quebec, and until very recently of Ontario, still prohibits the yellow coloring of margarine. This article compares the history of margarine regulation in the two countries and uses the interest-group theory of government to investigate why it was so stringent.

Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of Economic History , Volume 59 , Issue 2 , June 1999 , pp. 353 - 371
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 1999

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