The Butter-Margarine Controversy

Abstract

T HE QUESTION WHICH VITALLY INTERESTS all of us is whether we need to feel undue alarm from a health standpoint at the present-day scarcity in butter. In other words, need we be necessarily distressed not only for our adult population but especially for our growing children if the butter shortage continues over a prolonged period? We have become much more conscious as to what good nutrition involves since the war began. The Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council has. published a chart of recommended dietary allowances which have been generally accepted as the most authoritative information to date. In their table, they have separated the requirements not only according to age and sex but also according to the extent of activity. In addition, this committee has suggested certain minimal dietary requirements necessary during pregnancy and also during the period of lactation. In the opinion of the Board, there was already adequate experimental evidence to indicate the probable daily requirement of calories, protein, and such inorganic ions as calcium, iron, copper, and iodine. It was also possible to formulate recommendations for the daily quantities of the fat-soluble vitamins, A and D, needed, as well as for two members of the B complex, namely, thiamin (B1) and riboflavin (B2 or G). Figures for the amount of vitamin C required were also included. While it was recognized that other inorganic salts and a number of vitamins listed as members of the B complex are also essential in an adequate diet, it was considered that our present information is inadequate to hazard a guess as to the amount required. While it is generally recognized by students of nutrition that, at best, the quantities of nutrients postulated by the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council are tentative, this table has served as a most useful yardstick in the formulation of diets of high quality. The question of importance in the topic under dis-