What is the minimum fat content of butter?

Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 defines butter as having a milk fat content of at least 80% and less than 90%. The 82% printed on many packs is therefore a common level, not a legal minimum. Margarine falls within the same range, with at most 3% milk fat.

Does margarine contain trans fatty acids?

Industrial trans fatty acids, which arise notably from the partial hydrogenation of oils, are capped in the European Union at 2 g per 100 g of fat by Regulation (EU) 2019/649, with a transition period ending on 1 April 2021. Butter contains small amounts of natural trans fats, which are not covered by this cap.

Does butter contain more saturated fat than margarine?

It depends on the margarine. According to the 2013 Ciqual table, sweet butter contains 54.9 g of saturates per 100 g, compared with 38.3 g for an 80% fat block margarine and 16.1 g for a sunflower tub margarine. Total fat and calories remain comparable.

Are margarines ultra-processed products?

The reference literature on the NOVA classification cites margarines and other spreads among examples of ultra-processed foods, notably because of modified oils and emulsifiers. However, the classification of a specific product depends on its ingredient list: the simpler the list, the less processed the product.

Butter vs margarine: composition, saturates and trans fats

Two spreads, two logics

Butter is a dairy product, margarine is a shaped vegetable fat. On bread, both play the same role, but their composition and manufacturing differ. This article compares the fats, the question of trans fatty acids, the official benchmarks on saturated fats, culinary uses and ingredient lists, without naming an outright winner.

What the regulations say

In the European Union, names are governed by Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013. Thebutteris defined there as an emulsion derived exclusively from milk, with a milk fat content of at least80%and less than 90%. Themargarineis an emulsion of vegetable and/or animal fats, with a fat content likewise of at least 80% and less than 90%, and at most 3% milk fat.

The figure of82%printed on many packs is therefore not a legal minimum: it is a common level, above the 80% floor. Lighter products follow other names: at 60-62% or 39-41% fat, they are called "three-quarter butter" or "half butter" (and "three-quarter margarine" or "half margarine"), and for other fat contents below 80%, "spreadable fat".

Comparative nutritional composition

The ANSES Ciqual composition table, in its 2013 edition, gives the following values per 100 g (average values, which vary between products; the more recent 2020 edition gives, for sweet butter at 82% fat, about 83 g of lipids, 55 g of saturates and 753 kcal):

Sweet butter: 82.2 g of lipids, including 54.9 g of saturated fatty acids, 18.2 g of monounsaturated and 2.9 g of polyunsaturated, or about 745 kcal.
80% fat block margarine: 84.4 g of lipids, including 38.3 g of saturates, 27.1 g of monounsaturated and 15.7 g of polyunsaturated, or about 761 kcal.
80% sunflower margarine in a tub: 81.6 g of lipids, including 16.1 g of saturates, 16.7 g of monounsaturated and 45.6 g of polyunsaturated, or about 735 kcal.

Two lessons. First,calories are comparable: an 80% margarine is no lighter than butter. Next, the share of saturated fats varies greatly from one margarine to another, depending on the oils used. A sunflower tub margarine contains far less than butter, whereas a block margarine made with firmer fats contains more. Margarines use rapeseed, sunflower or olive oils, but sometimes also palm oil, which is richer in saturates: our articlePalm oil: real dangers?looks at this point in detail.

Trans fatty acids

Industrial trans fatty acids arise notably during the partial hydrogenation of oils, a process used to solidify oils. Butter, for its part, contains small amounts of natural trans fatty acids, produced by the digestion of ruminants.

Regulation (EU) 2019/649 requires that the trans fatty acid content, excluding those naturally present in fats of animal origin, does not exceed2 g per 100 g of fatin foods intended for the final consumer and for retail. Non-compliant foods were allowed to remain on the market until1 April 2021. The recitals of the text recall that EFSA recommends keeping trans intake as low as possible and that the WHO called, in 2018, for the elimination of industrially produced trans fatty acids.

Saturated fats: official benchmarks

Both fats provide saturates, at very different levels depending on the product. The benchmarks apply to the diet as a whole:

WHO: less than 10% of total energy intake as saturated fatty acids, from age 2. The WHO also states that these fats can be replaced by polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fatty acids of plant origin.
ANSES: the recommended nutrient intake for the three saturated fatty acids lauric, myristic and palmitic is set at 8% of energy intake excluding alcohol (2010 opinion). For all saturates combined, the French benchmark is 12%, according to the earlier Afssa opinion.

ANSES notes that butter and margarine are among the contributors to these intakes, alongside cheeses, pastries and biscuits. To find out where saturates hide in everyday food, seeSaturated fats: where do they hide and how can we limit them?.

Uses: cooking, spreading, baking

Spreading: butter has a clean taste and melts in the mouth. Tub margarines stay spreadable when cold, as they are formulated for that purpose.
Frying: butter contains water and milk proteins, which brown and can burn at high temperatures. Some margarines are sold for cooking: the packaging says so.
Baking: butter adds flavour and a melting texture. Block margarines are often used in puff pastry or shortcrust pastry, as their fats are firmer.

These uses are cooking habits, not health rules: the packaging remains the reference for each product.

Margarine ingredients and additives

Butter is generally just cream, sometimes salt and cultures. Margarine is more complex: it contains vegetable oils and fats, water, salt, and oftenemulsifiers(to bind water and fat),flavourings, andcolourings.

These additives are authorised and assessed by EFSA. To understand how to classify them, seeAdditives: are they all a real danger?. In Yumiq, the product page shows the number of additives detected (harmless, to watch, risky). The Yumiq-Score penalises controversial additives assessed by EFSA and ANSES, and the Yumiq star requires the absence of risky additives.

Degree of processing and Nutri-Score

In the NOVA classification, the reference literature explicitly cites "margarines and other spreads" among examples of foodsultra-processed(group 4), as they contain modified oils and additives such as emulsifiers. This classification depends on the ingredient list: a very simple margarine could be judged differently. SeeUnderstanding the NOVA classification.

On theNutri-Scoreside, the updated algorithm, made official in France by the order of 14 March 2025 (brands have two years to adapt their packaging), treats added fats separately: oils low in saturates move from C to B. Butter generally remains ratedE, according to the press and product sheets, whereas the grade of a margarine depends mainly on its share of saturates: it can therefore vary from one product to another. Nutri-Score compares foods with each other, and says nothing about the degree of processing.

Key takeaways

Both are very fatty and very high in calories: to be eaten in moderation, in line with the benchmarks on saturates.
Butter is richer in saturatesthan most sunflower or rapeseed margarines, but some margarines contain palm oil.
Industrial trans fats are cappedat 2 g per 100 g of fat in the European Union.
The ingredient list decides: the shorter it is, the simpler the product. Prefer margarines without a long list of additives.

Neither of these products is a miracle solution: what matters is the place they occupy in the diet as a whole.

Butter vs margarine