I Can't Believe It's Not Butter: Oh, Hell Yes I Am Turning the Tub Around!

Years ago, when I was just a wee child, a common staple in my family household was I Can't Believe It's Not Butter (ICBINB). On corn-on-the-cob, cinnamon toast, bagels, pastries, pasta, rice, and steamed carrots. That yellow tub was a familiar friend, and my mother, an amazing and devoted cook, trusted it.

In a sick, yet genius marketing campaign in the 1990's they plastered romance-novel-muscle-clad-Italian-model Fabio Lanzoni in their commercials lubricating the loins of their prime target audience, the stay-at-home and working mother. The campaign was successful and lured the grocery buyer away from butter (and saturated fat demonized for its apparent link to the rising incidence in heart disease) to hydrogenated, trans fatty acid, artery-clogging, vein-hardening vegetable oils.

Now, they are yet again positioning themselves in a campaign to do damage control, aimed at recovering their reputation after the potential genocide of the average consumer's cardiovascular system where the content of their previous version of ICBINB was linked with a host of disorders and dangerous health complications. And we are falling for it again hook, line, and sinker.

The current advertising campaign is using the actress Megan Mullally (you know, the socialite secretary from Will & Grace) in prime time spots dancing and singing the catchy song "Turn the Tub Around", being carried by young male grocery store workers (and they say men are the only ones who fall for this kind of advertising!). Here are the lyrics (but I have highlighted the ones pertaining to health claims to prevent sudden aneurysm):

Turn the tub around, talking 'bout nutrition - Come see what we've found - It's what you've been wishin' - Big transition! - Butter lovers start rejoicin' - 'Cause we got a butter tastin' - Healthier choice in - Hustle over, - pick up a tub and read it - You're gonna find that butter, - don't really need it! - Whoa! - Turn the tub around - Feel the admiration - This is so profound - Healthier formulation - Formulation! - Fresh butter taste - Yes, that's here - No hydrogenated oils - So there is no trans fats here! - Memorize this tub, - then you just gotta grab it! - So, hold the butter, - Lets start a healthier habit! - Whoa Whoa! - Cause a closer looks gonna show - It's got great taste with no cholesterol - Do a nice thing for your body, - yeah, yeah yeah! - And when you compare it to butter, - It's an utter shame that butter's got more saturated fat than in this tub! - Hey! - Turn the tub around - Check each word and letter - How it does astound - Can't believe its better! - Believe its better! - Turn the tub around - Now that you have read it! - Go tell the whole town - Its the time to spread it! - Gotta spread it! - Gotta spread it! - Gotta spread it!



Unilever (ICBINB's parent company) has also bought a whole channel on Dish Network devoted to the nonstop playing of this song, karaoke style with words at the bottom (I petition that this should be used as an instrument of torture, probably more efficient than the BeeGee's). So, with the song obviously promoting the newer healthier formulation of ICBINB is it, in fact, healthy? Lets start with the ingredient list to see what it is made of (green type are my comments):

INGREDIENTS: VEGETABLE OIL BLEND (LIQUID SOYBEAN OIL (genetically modified Omega 6 oil), PALM OIL, PALM KERNEL OIL, LIQUID CANOLA OIL (genetically modified)), WATER, NATURAL SWEET CREAM BUTTERMILK* (exposure to pesticides, rBGH), SALT (90mg per serving), VEGETABLE MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, NATURAL SOY LECITHIN (GM), (POTASSIUM SORBATE (may cause irritation to membranes), CALCIUM DISODIUM EDTA (May cause intestinal upsets, muscle cramps, kidney damage, and blood in urine. On the FDA priority list of food additives to be studied for mutagenic, teratogenic, subsacute, and reproductive effects) USED TO PROTECT QUALITY, CITRIC ACID, NATURAL AND ARTIFICAL FLAVORS (possible MSG which promotes weight gain), VITAMIN A (PALMITATE), BETA CAROTENE (COLOR).

*Adds a dietarily insignificant amount of cholesterol per serving.

Now, the claim that it is less in saturated fat than regular butter, that is true. It is also correct that there are no hydrogenated oils in the label. But read the pointers below to find out what is NOT healthy when you really analyze the ingredients and 'turn the tub around:'

1.  Trans Fats: These unhealthy fats most likely do exist in this product. As long as the content is below 0.5g/serving, they can round down and label it as 0g, thanks to funding given to the FDA by the food industry to keep this loop hole in effect. That means that there could potentially be up to 14.7 grams of trans fat per tub (0.49g x 30 servings). Many people eat a tub a week, and thus are going to be receiving a good amount of cardiovascular disease promoting substances from this product in the long run.
2. Damaged Fats: A majority of the fats in this tub are polyunsaturated (vs. saturated or monounsaturated). Polyunsaturates are the most sensitive, unstable, and vulnerable fats that exist. They are easily damaged and oxidized by light, air, and heat (all the components that go into manufacturing and processing). So, you are eating deodorized, artificially flavored rancid fat when you eat polyunsaturates in processed food form. Get them from the whole food (like the soybean, flaxseed, sunflower seed, corn) and they are beautifully healthy for you.
3. Inflammation: Excess Omega 6 fatty acids (like the ones found in soybean oil) and damaged fats (in the vegetable oil formula above) promote inflammation in the body. It is the inflammatory response that promotes plaque build up and hardening in the arteries, high blood pressure, and a higher risk of heart disease. Inflammation is also linked to other disorders like weight gain, diabetes, arthritis, and auto-immune diseases.
4. Genetically Modified Ingredients: These franken-foods have been linked to immune deficiencies, allergies, and fertility issues. They are not required by law to be labeled yet in the US, so many of us who respond to them negatively have no idea what was the trigger. Read the GM Blog I wrote to learn more... http://wheredidthefoodgo.blogspot.com/2009_12_30_archive.html
5. The Itty Bitties: Toxins in even small amounts can be too much for your body to handle. MSG, or monosodium glutamate, can occur in natural and artificial flavorings. This substance is an excitotoxin that makes your brain think the food tastes good, when it really doesn't. It is also used in laboratories to make mice fat for experiments (because they do not exist in nature). Calcium Disodium EDTA needs attention by the FDA, but has yet to be studied. It is no doubt an at-risk substance to be consuming without proper evidence of its safety. 

Consuming damaged fats, chemicals and flavor enhancers is going to do nothing for your health, other than compromise it. You will age faster, look older, be more prone to weight gain, immune deficiencies, general inflammation, and degenerative diseases.

It may seem a bit daunting to realize that advertising really has nothing to do with the truth. You may ask, "If it were really this bad, would they really be able to sell it and market it this way? Wouldn't someone stand up and discredit it?" Remember the hydrogenated fat revolution that is still going on today? No one stood up for decades, after the damage was already being done. The experts and companies that sold the trans fats products still are not coming forward to take responsibility for false claims and hopes, and for deceiving and endangering the public, despite their own ignorance. Millions of impressionable Americans will buy this product because of the techniques and wordage used above, for no other reason than lack of information, education, and regulation yet to be activated due to profit margin.

If I could be as bold to take a line out of the Unilever book of hymns: Turn the Tub Around, and go tell the whole town!  Lets start a healthier habit!

Here are some healthy fat recommendations:

• coconut oil, unrefined (use in stir fries, and as a butter for toast and other baked goods)
• coconut milk
• olive oil, unrefined (drizzled on toast, rice, pasta)
• avocados
• olives
• raw, soaked nuts and seeds (sesame, sunflower, almond, cashew, macadamia, walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans)
  
• raw nut butters
• flax oil (raw)
  
• wild pacific salmon, mackerel, sardines, halibut, chunk light tuna

Enjoy healthy fats! It is necessary for the vibrancy of every cell in your body, promoting mood, brain, heart, nerve, respiratory, immune, and digestive health.

And do not eat fat out of a yellow tub.