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The Great Butter vs. Margarine “Rot-off”
By Linda | June 20, 2008
On 5/13/08 Science Junkies embarked on it’s first ever original clinical study!
We were inspired by two sources;
1. An experiment that illustrated what happens to Cool Whip (as opposed to natural whipped cream) when it is left out at room temperature for 12 days. To see that experiment CLICK HERE
-And-
2. An email that I received (possibly for the 20th time) about the evils of magarine. Among other “scientific” information, the email asserts that if you “purchase a tub of margarine and leave it in your garage or a shaded area. Within a couple of days you will notice 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.”
You can read the entire text of the “evils of margarine” email at Snopes.com along with lots of data both supporting and discrediting the various assertions made in the email.
Science Junkies set out to test the assertions highlighted above and to answer the following questions while supporting our findings with photographic documentation.
1. What will happen to a stick of margarine that is left out at room temperature for a given time period?
2. What will happen to a stick of butter under the same conditions?
The Findings:
We faithfully observed and photographed our test subjects for 21 days (before I abandoned the daily observations). After each photographic and observation session (including a “smell test”), I replaced the subjects back on top of my kitchen refrigerator).
The dramatic results? Apart from a subtle change in texture on the surface of the butter (a tiny bit of “bubbling”) and a slight intensification of the yellow color on the margarine, Nothing changed! Neither the butter nor the margarine smelled bad, attracted insects, grew mold or looked appreciably different.
After 21 days my interest in the experiment wained and I very unscientifically quit observing & documenting my subjects. Well, yesterday (6/19/08) I suddenly remembered that I had two decaying sticks of spread still sitting on top of my fridge!
OMG! Were they green? drippy?? maggot infested???
No. THEY LOOK EXACTLY THE SAME!
Although I don’t think I want to use either subject on my bagel or English muffin and I have no idea what these results tell us about the nutritional content or chemical structure of butter vs. margarine, the experiment does (somewhat) debunk the email.
I have spared you all the pictures I took during the 21 days that I photographically logged my experiment and skipped right to the highlights - Photos taken on“Day 1″ and “Day 39″ of the “Rot-off”
The butter used was Land ‘O Lakes unsalted (salt acts as a preservative in butter) and the margarine was also Land ‘O Lakes brand.
And so (with a whimper not a bang) concludes Science Junkies first ever original clinical study…..
Topics: Food Science, Projects & Experiments, The Petri Dish |
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