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

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.

Contributions to Canadian economic history: The last 30 years

“…We emphasise, though, that underpinning these and other recent papers in Canadian economic history are the technical tools that represent best practice in modern economics. Carlos and Lewis (1993, 1999 apply models drawn from consumer theory, theory of the firm and natural resource economics to shed light on the Native American experience in the fur trade. Keay (2000aKeay ( , 2000bKeay ( , 2007 uses techniques based on index number theory to describe productivity change and productivity differentials between the US and Canada.…”

“…Ruth Dupré and her co-authors have used similar political economy models of vote determination in their studies of product regulation in Canada. They document the political interests involved in the efforts to control and in some cases ban the sale of such products as margarine, cigarettes and alcohol(Dupré 1999, Alston et al 2002and Dostie and Dupré 2012. 18 This is not to discount the pioneering statistical work ofMcDiarmid (1946),Fowke (1952) andBarnett (1966).…”

The Rise of the American Regulatory State: A View from the Progressive Era

“…On the one hand, state and federal oleomargarine regulations were clearly producer protection laws that were aimed at protecting dairy interests from the growing popularity of oleomargarine, a cheap and viable substitute for butter in the market for spreadable oils. Laws that taxed oleomargarine sales or oleomargarine producers, or required that oleomargarine be colored pink were introduced at the behest of dairy interests who sought legislative relief from the expanding oleomargarine trade (Dupré 1999). On the other hand, statelevel "pure food laws" that required the proper disclosure of product ingredients were introduced to reduce uncertainty about food quality.…”

The impact of climate on the law of one price: A test using North American food prices from the 1920s

“…The Canadian data have been used byFielding et al (2015),Hickey and Jacks (2011) andEmery and Levitt (2002). 5 There were 44 items reported until 1924 when the distinction between margarine produced with animal and vegetable fats was dropped.6 The Canadian data do report mutton over the entire period, but because the US data report lamb specifically as "yearling," we do not mix the two.7 The reasons for which are discussed inDupré (1999).…”