How Margarine and Shortenings are Made

Manufacturers start with the cheapest seed oils, extracted at high temperatures and pressures from corn, cottonseed, soybeans, safflower seeds, and canola

The last fraction of oil is removed with hexane, a toxic solvent

The oild, already rancid from the extraction process, are cleaned. This destroys the vitamins and antioxidants, but pesticides and solvents remain

The oils are mixed with a finely ground nickel catalyst

The oils are then put in a reactor where at high temperatures and pressures, they are flooded with hydrogen gas. The molecular structure is rearraged. What goes into the reactor is a liquid oil, what comes out is a smelly, lumpy, grey semi-solid

Soap-like emulsifiers are mixed in to remove all the lumps

The oil is steamed clean again to remove the odor of chemicals

The oil is bleached to get rid of the grey color

Synthetic vitamins and artificial flavors are mixed in

A natural yellow color is added to margarine because synthetic coloring is not allowed

The mixture is packaged in blocks or tubs and promoted to the public as a health food