A margarine or spread earned a Best Bite if no more than 20 percent of its fat was saturated-plus-trans or if a serving had no more than one gram of saturated-plus-trans fat. Honorable Mentions were no more than 30 percent saturated-plus-trans and had no more than three grams of sat-plus-trans. Within each category, margarines and spreads are ranked from best to worst—from lowest to highest percent of saturated-plus-trans fat, then from least to most sat-plus-trans total fat, and calories. Numbers in italics are our estimates.
Margarine or Spread (1 Tbs.) Tubs and Squeeze Bottles
I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Sweet Cream & Calcium Spread
50
6
1.5
25
Move Over Butter Spread
60
6
1.5
25
Parkay Spread
80
8
2
25
Promise Spread
80
8
2
25
Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread
100
11
3
27
Smart Balance Buttery Spread
80
9
2.5
28
Blue Bonnet Home Style Spread
60
7
2
29
Shedd’s Spread Churn Style Country Crock
60
7
2
29
Shedd’s Spread Country Crock Plus Calcium
50
5
1.5
30
Shedd’s Spread Light Country Crock
50
5
1.5
30
Smart Balance Light Spread
50
5
1.5
30
Land O Lakes Country Morning Blend
100
11
3.3
30
Land O Lakes Margarine
100
11
3.7
34
Imperial Soft Tub
60
7
2.5
36
Land O Lakes Spread with Sweet Cream
80
8
3.2
40
Land O Lakes Light Country Morning Blend
50
6
2.6
43
Imperial Regular Spread
80
9
5.5
61
Land O Lakes Light Salted Whipped Butter
40
4
2.7
68
Land O Lakes Salted Whipped Butter
70
7
5.2
74
Sticks
Promise Buttery Light
50
6
1.5
25
Promise Spread
90
10
2.5
25
Fleischmann’s Light Margarine
50
5
1.5
30
Parkay Light Spread
50
5
1.5
30
Land O Lakes Spread with Sweet Cream
90
10
3.6
36
Fleischmann’s Original or Unsalted Margarine
100
11
4
36
Blue Bonnet Spread
90
10
4
40
Hain Safflower Oil Margarine
100
11
4.5
41
Land O Lakes Country Morning Blend
100
11
4.5
41
Land O Lakes Margarine
100
11
4.5
41
I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Light Spread
50
6
2.5
42
Shedd’s Spread Country Crock Spreadable Sticks
80
8
3.5
44
Imperial Spread
80
9
4.5
50
I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Spread
90
10
5
50
Parkay Spread
90
10
5
50
Land O Lakes Light Country Morning Blend
50
6
3.1
52
Imperial 1/3 Less Fat Spread
70
7
4
57
Land O Lakes Salted Light Butter
50
6
4.2
70
Land O Lakes Salted Butter
100
11
8.3
75
Sprays and Pumps
PAM or similar aerosol sprays (1 second spray)1
7
0.8
0.1
7-14
I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Spray (6 sprays)
5
0.5
0.1
14
Shedd’s Country Crock Cooking & Topping Spray (6 sprays)
5
0.5
0.1
14
The use of information from this article for commercial purposes is strictly prohibited without written permission from CSPI. > Return to “Better than Butter?”
