It seems this email has been doing the rounds for years, this from xenogere http://xenogere.com/2003/12/06/butter-versus-margarine/

I think he explains it pretty well, so I don’t need to bother – cool!

So I got this email from a friend, and curious, so I’m gonna check it out.

“Pass The Butter .. Please.
This is interesting . .. . Margarine was originally manufactured to fatten turkeys. When it killed the turkeys, the people who had put all the money into the research wanted a payback so they put their heads together to figure out what to do with this product to get their money back.

It was a white substance with no food appeal so they added the yellow coloring and sold it to people to use in place of butter. How do you like it? They have come out with some clever new flavorings.. DO YOU KNOW.. The difference between margarine and butter? Read on to the end…gets very interesting!

• Both have the same amount of calories.
• Butter is slightly higher in saturated fats at 8 grams compared to 5 grams.
• Eating margarine can increase heart disease in women by 53% over eating the same amount of butter, according to a recent Harvard Medical Study.
• Eating butter increases the absorption of many other nutrients in other foods.
• Butter has many nutritional benefits where margarine has a few Only because they are added!
• Butter tastes much better than margarine and it can enhance the flavors of other foods.
• Butter has been around for centuries where margarine has been around for less than 100 years .

And now, for Margarine..

• Very high in Trans fatty acids.
• Triple risk of coronary heart disease .
• Increases total cholesterol and LDL (this is the bad cholesterol) and lowers HDL cholesterol, (the good cholesterol) Increases the risk of cancers up to five fold..
• Lowers quality of breast milk.
• Decreases immune response.
• Decreases insulin response.
• And here’s the most disturbing fact…. HERE IS THE PART THAT IS VERY INTERESTING! Margarine is but ONE MOLECULE away from being PLASTIC.. This fact alone was enough to have me avoiding margarine for life and an ything else that is hydrogenated (this means hydrogen is added, changing the molecular structure of the substance).

You can try this yourself: Purchase a tub of margarine and leave it in your garage or shaded area. Within a couple of days you will note a couple of things: * no flies, not even those pesky fruit flies will go near it (that should tell you something) * it does not rot or smell differently because it has no nutritional value ; nothing will grow on it. Even those teeny weeny microorganisms will not a find a home to grow. Why? Because it is nearly plastic . Would you melt your Tupperware and spread that on your toast?”

You gotta feel for the workers Total sacked. They were making a stand for something they believe in, ironically to save the jobs of colleagues who had been made redundant. Shame on you, Total. Let’s hope all parties can get back round the table and work things out, and give the workers their jobs back.

Read the story in the Telegraph