The Margarine Color Wars

When margarine was first invented, it was illegal to color margarine yellow and some

states even forced it to be dyed pink because dairy farmers were scared of the competition from

the cheap butter substitute. In the late 1800s, New Hampshire, Vermont,

and South Dakota required margarine to be dyed pink to make it look unappetizing so

people wouldn't buy it. Margarine companies sold it white with a yellow dye packet

that consumers had to mix in themselves, which was annoying, but it was the only legal way to make

it look like butter. The dairy lobby was so powerful that margarine restrictions lasted until the

1960s, nearly 80 years after it was invented. The irony is, margarine was created