We need to have a talk, and I think it’s best to do these things fast, like ripping off a jewelry store. WHAT is the problem with Crisco? Every time I mention Crisco, there is recoiling of the kind I don’t get when I mention butter. Some of my brother’s friends ate three or four chocolate-chip cookies each, then asked for the recipe and discovered the Crisco. I swear they went pale. You could see their thoughts: “Would it be impolite to barf this up? Is etiquette a reason to risk my very life?”
Here are the nutrition labels from Crisco and from butter:
Crisco
butter
Crisco has 1 additional gram of fat per tablespoon, and so it also has an additional 10 calories per tablespoon. But only 3 grams of Crisco’s fat are saturated, compared to 7 grams of butter’s fat. Crisco has no cholesterol; butter has 30 mg per tablespoon (240 mg per stick). Crisco has no salt; butter has 90 mg per tablespoon (720 mg per stick). Crisco has monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats—those are the “good” ones, aren’t they? Crisco is made from vegetable fats; butter is made from animal fats. Neither has any trans fat.
So who has a fight to pick with Crisco?—or at least, a fight they don’t also have with butter? Is it that vegetable shortening gets confused with lard, since they look similar and are sold in similar-looking containers? Or is it something else?
For me, it’s about Crisco being more of a food product that a food. I dunno, I guess I’m trying to eat less of things where molecules have been moved around. Yes, they took the trans fats out but is the new fat blend better? I dunno! Maybe? We might figure out that in fact monkeying around with fats in the way those new fats are done is bad too. I don’t eat margarine either if it makes you feel better. I’m sure the cookies were fabulous, though and honestly I am far more skeeved out that my FIL puts wax in a candy he makes. :o)
Hi. First time to comment. I prefer butter because I think it tastes better, though I acknowledge that using butter in cookie recipes results in a flatter, crispier cookie. I think what most people are reacting to are the trans fats that used to be in Crisco, before it was reformulated in the past several years. Now Crisco contains 0 trans fat, according to the label, though I believe that it still may contain trace amounts. According to the FDA website, “Food manufacturers are allowed to list amounts of trans fat with less than 0.5 gram (1/2 g)per serving as 0 (zero) on the Nutrition Facts panel.” “Partiallly hydrogenated” are the ingredients we should try to avoid, because the processing involved results in trans fats. I’d be interested to know if Crisco has partially hyrdogenated oil listed in its ingredients. To sum it up, I think people turn their noses up at Crisco b/c they are thinking of the old Crisco which was full of trans fats. As for me, I’ll take something natural (butter) over something processed (Crisco) any day.
I put it down to marketing: butter has better PR than Crisco does.
Mairzy– Ha ha! Yes. Imagine if butter’s image was “the fats extracted from the bodily fluids of a cow.”
I think it’s a snob appeal thing. Butter is more expensive, right? Crisco has the reputation of not spreading as badly as butter does in cookie baking, but after trying the Crisco “Ultimate Sugar Cookie” this week, I think it’s totally unfounded. While they actually tasted better than sugar cookies I’ve made w/ butter, the dough spread like a juicy rumor.
Crisco has hydrogenated oil. Butter does not.
Just so you know, it’s not just Crisco I dislike…. I almost spit out the pie I was eating yesterday when the cook announced it had splenda and not sugar in it. UGH.
Eating anything that hasn’t been around for at LEAST a few hundred years makes me cringe. I’m annoyingly hard core about all natural foods.
Crisco has fully hydrogenated fats, but hydrogenation wasn’t done 500 years ago. So, no trans fats, but hydrogenated oils are molecularly changed and may also cause the same kinds of problems as trans fats.
Read the crisco entry in the wikipedia…. See the controversy section.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crisco
I especially like the non cooking uses section.
Heh.
(And, ionst was my word verification… since hydrogenation involves molecular changes, I thought this was funny in a geeky way.)
Now the word verification is outter…. just like butter. Heh. Obviously, I should get OFF the computer and do something else, eh?
I only use Crisco in my baking. Doesn’t bother me a bit. But it must be Crisco, it can’t be a store brand or any other brand, cause that would be gross.
Personally, it grosses me out because of its appearance, mostly. I’ve only ever used it for greasing pans for baking, so when I hear Crisco, I just don’t think of it as an ingredient. It makes me feel squicky to imagine taking a spoonful or two and just throwing it in something I’m going to eat.
So maybe that’s it, or maybe I’m just weird that way.
I won’t eat anything with Crisco in it, not only because my body is intolerant to vegetable oils, but also because the oil is hydrogenated.
Quick breakdown of the hydrogenation process:
1 – Begin with cheap oil (soy, corn or cottonseed) that is already rancid because of it’s extraction process.
2 – Mix the oil with tiny metal particles (nickle oxide) that are toxic.
3 – Subject the oil to high pressure hydrogen gas.
4 – Add soap-like emulsifiers and starch to give a better consistency.
5 – Steam clean the oil to remove the odor.
6 – Bleach it.
7 – Add dye and flavor to make it resemble butter.
Yum Yum……..
Consumption of this is linked to cancer, atherosclerosis, diabetes, obesity, birth defects, and more.
Source – Nourishing Traditions by S. Fallon
Yep, I think it’s unanimous that when baking, we like the idea of being able to eat all the ingredients we use and no one would want to eat crisco.
I use it for greasing, but not for cooking usually. But then again, I rarely make chocolate chip cookies from scratch. I know I’m weird, but I think the break-n-bake kind are just as good and much much easier. Any other kind, I make from scratch.
Wow, maybe b/c I grew up in the south, but I’ve never encounted a butter v. crisco debate! I rarely use it, only in some baking projects and only then it’s small amounts like 1/4 cup. Even if there are processed things in there, I doubt that small amount rarely used would kill anybody. There are people chowing down on highly processed TV dinners and McDonald’s day in and day out and to me – THAT’s where the concern should be. A handful of cookies with a smidgen of Crisco is fine! Bake on, Swistle!
Yup, it’s the hydrogenated fats. I haven’t done any of my own research, but my dad studied different kinds of fats pretty extensively in an attempt to manage his rheumatoid arthritis, and he decided it was best to eliminate all hydrogenated and trans fats, and go light on the saturated fats. This was before “trans fat” became a buzzword, so I’ve always considered any kind of hydrogenated fat to be Bad News as much as trans fats.
That said, I wouldn’t go so far as to consider upchucking something I’d just eaten and discovered to contain margarine or Crisco; I’d just change the recipe for my own use.
I always thought people confused Crisco with lard. I have Crisco in my pantry at all times. We get along just fine. I do not have lard in my pantry.
For me, it’s partly an erroneous lard-crisco link. But also a real food vs. food-like product issue.
I inherited my fear of Crisco from my mother so I’ll just blame her.
I think I confused it for lard too. I also have a beef with it since I was a little kid and absconded with some thinking I was getting away with a forbidden sweet tasting treat. imagine my surprise.
This is just some of teh funniest stuff I’ve ever read. “Would it be impolite to barf this up?”
Swistle, you are a GEM.
I’m not wild about Crisco because of the manufactured-ness of it. Plus, butter is lovely on the tongue. Crisco is…Crisco.
But I think a majority of the reaction to it is because food is the new morality. Trans fats aren’t just sort of unhealthy, they are BAD and WRONG. Sugar isn’t just simple carbs, it’s OMG SUGAR DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’RE EATING THINK OF TEH CHILDREN.
Whatever. I’m a rebel. I think food is food and morals are something different altogether. Plus, you can’t make Oreos without some Crisco.
Oh yes, I said MAKE OREOS. Whaddya gonna do about it, food cops? Huh? HUH?
I didn’t grow up with Crisco so for me I think it has to do with the idea that I know where butter comes from but not Crisco. With butter, I can picture a cow being milked and then somebody churning that milk into butter. With Crisco, I imagine some vegetables… and then……?
Where we live out in Australia (in the outback)… the grocery store doesn’t carry Crisco… the “ahem… adult shop” carries it… so needless to say we don’t get Crisco, butter is less embarrassing.
I figure the difference is between what is essentially a chemical product and what is a natural food product. While the nutritional labels are very similar, the naturally occurring substance is most likely more healthy. The whole “eat food closer to its natural status” thing and all.
And Alton Brown says that butter is highly regulated by the government/FDA and those “other guys” are not. (Shrug)
Yep, I think it’s the “real” food vs “fake” food thing… and the fact that butter tastes good and Crisco is… just a fat and fairly bland. That said, I have a giant tub ‘o Crisco because it’s non dairy and I use it to bake things for Little Miss so she can have her treats, too.
I’m personally not against using crisco, but I use butter whenever possible. It’s the whole hydrogenated oil think that people have already mentioned. So not the AMOUNT of fat, just the kind.
Then again if _I_ were eating one of your cookies, and you mentioned it contained Crisco I would do the opposite of barf it up… I would secretly take mental note that Swistle cookies= yummy= Crisco, and I’d become a convert.
Almost positive.
I always use crisco (butter flavored) in my chocolate chip cookies.
I am firmly on your side of this, swistle.
For me, it’s all about taste and how pretty the cookie looks.
Meh. I think it’s a food snob thing. Crisco is more likely to be found in a trailer. I like it for cookies though.
Chemicals as food sounds gross but so does eating stuff that came out of a cow’s booby so you know, whatever.
well then, by most of this logic, what is the problem with LARD? I mean, not that I use a ton of lard, but freshly rendered, refridgerated lard is natural, has no trans fats, and has less saturated and more monounsaturated fat than butter.
So, if everyone is so horrified by Crisco because it is so unnatural, and goes thru all this processing…shouldn’t they all be MORE agreeable towards lard? Not EVEN MORE horrified by it?
Also, I’m wondering if everyone who would prefer butter because it’s “more natural” (ME!) also refrains from eating ANY processed food product LOADED with nothing but hydrogenated oils, sugar and chemicals.
Interesting debate Swistle, very interesting…..
Cover one hand with butter and one hand with Crisco and then rinse them both off in hot water. The butter comes off pretty easily, but the Crisco leaves a thick residue that takes quite a bit of elbow grease to get off. If it’s doing that outside, what is it doing to your inside?
That said, I always have a can of Crisco on hand because the buttercream I make calls for it. It’s like 1/2 cup Crisco to 2.5 cups butter and it doesn’t bother me that it’s in there. However, if I have a recipe where either will do (Crisco or butter), I will use butter. I Looooooove butter.
1. I looooove the taste of baked goods that contain Crisco. LOVE.
2. I don’t give a crap if something is “natural” or not or “processed” or not. E Coli is all natural, too. I’m just sayin’.
3. When I had my blood cholesterol tested and it came back high, the doctor told me to cut out hydrogenated oils, especially palm oil. I actually have no idea if Crisco contains hydrogenated oil, but if it does, I’m with those above who guess that’s the reason for The Recoil: heart cloggery.
I’m still a little confused about this, even after I found this article:
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/nutrition-news/transfats/index.html
Maybe we should contact someone at the HSPH to address this once and for all! I’m so interested!
I think I got it. Ok. Crisco has “no trans fats” but still has partially hydrogenated oil in it.
Apparently if it has less than .5 grams per serving, a food label can claim the food has “zero trans fats” in it, but the Crisco serving is 1 tbsp. Most recipes require more than that.
Now there’s Crisco Zero or something that has no partially hydrogenated oil in it, and that’s different.
Okay, I’m going to stop commenting now.
http://nutrition.about.com/od/askyournutritionist/f/no_trans.htm
I don’t have anything against crisco. Its my understanding and experience that crisco makes a fluffier cookie and butter a crispier cookie. My favorite chocolate chip recipe is a little of both.
I am much more intrigued by the fact that one of your posters in AUS said crisco is available in the adult stores?!! that’s freakin hilarious!!
furthermore, hydrogenated fat and all that…blah blah blah. Yeah hydrogenated=the new evil. OK Ok ok. there’s lots of stuff that is natural that’s still kinda gross but yummy. take…oh…CHEESE for instance!! the process that makes cheese is just foul. I’m not comparing a complex bacterial process to hydrogenated oils…just saying…
not sure what I’m saying but I don’t think crisco=Antichrist.
if it was a part of one’s daily diet…bad. otherwise, knock yourself out and keep your recipes a secret. LOL
I always thought Crisco had the trans fats but now that it doesn’t I don’t think it is that bad. I bet lots of people still think it has the trans fats.
I must admit I would recoil from Crisco too. There’s just something about the inherent non-food-quality of it that seems a bit disturbing to me. I have the same aversion to things like cheese in a can, marshmallow fluff, and storebought frosting, too. But I have nothing against lard.
My coworker brought in cookies the other day and I told her that I liked them. She literally whispered to me, “I’d offer the recipe, but they have Crisco in them.” I told her that she had better not ask me for any frosting or pie crust recipes if no-crisco is a requirement!
And what’s wrong with lard?
I guess it’s just the way I was raised. My mother loved to bake and passed on the love to my brother and me. And yet–we hardly EVER had real butter in the fridge. We ALWAYS used butter-flavored Crisco for our cookies and pies. Butter was something you bought for the holiday baking–NOT the everyday stuff.
Maybe if I’d been raised differently I’d have a stronger opinion. But for now….meh.
It all boils down to: I DON’T LIKE chocolate chips cookies baked with butter as well as my mom’s recipes made with Crisco.
And all you folks who don’t like Crisco–well, adapt the recipe and use your butter. You do what you gotta do in YOUR kitchen, I’ll do what I prefer in mine! Just skip the lecture, mkay? I don’t think I make/eat chocolate chip cookies and pies enough for it to hurt….
I think Crisco suffers from an image problem. They need to overhaul their marketing department and totally reinvent their brand. Because you’re right; from the nutrition facts, Crisco seems slightly healthier than butter.
I don’t like to use Crisco in baking, either. I’m firmly in the I’d-Rather-Eat-Something-That-Came-Out-Of-A-Cow-Than-From-A-Factory camp. And I believe that previous posters are correct about the re-formulated Crisco still containing trans fats, only they don’t have to report it because it’s less than half a gram per serving. (The serving size listed in your photo is only a Tbsp.) To check if something has trans fats, I completely ignore the Trans Fat listing on the Nutrition Facts label and go straight to the ingredient list to check for partially hydrogenated oils. If you want more lift from your all-butter cookies, try creaming the butter and sugar together longer than usual–like 5 minutes or so. Also try chilling the dough a bit before baking–the cookies won’t spread as fast in the oven.
I used to be in the camp that said crisco/margarine (or really any other chemicals altered to taste like food) were bad. Then I got a son who was seriously allergic to dairy. After watching him struggle to breathe and finding out that dairy was the culprit, I changed my tune. I still wouldn’t eat it every day, but once in awhile is fine. I’m not going to keep my kids from ever eating a cookie. Maybe I should, but I’m not.
I’ll have to agree with Christina – here in the South, there isn’t much of a controversy about Crisco vs. butter because they’re both used non-apologetically and with wild abandon. And to the person who thinks Crisco only belongs in a trailer, I’ll have to politely disagree, as my MIL not only has always has cans of Crisco on hand, but the sticks that look like butter too. And she lives in a 4 br, ranch-style brick house. Trailers usually don’t contain name brands.
I say this, as with anything else, moderation above all.
Interesting debate. I always have some in my pantry, and use it occasionally. I use butter more in baking, but when you want a fluffier cookie, Crisco is the way to go. And although I rarely use it because it’s not always easy to find, lard is by far the best fat to use in making a pie crust.
my hang up is definitely the processed / it’s a “food product” issue…. and nellyru, for that same reason, i am totally pro-lard :-) i’m of the (potentially misguided, fairly arbitrary) opinion that i’d rather eat something less “healthy” as long as it’s more “natural” – eg, closer to its original state. and something that humans have reliably been eating for centuries, like JK said.
of course, none of this matters when i’m hungover and/or drunk and/or just really want some BK. :-)
I MUCH MUCH MUCH prefer to bake with butter, but butter and I have a love/love relationship.
I do have Crisco in the pantry from when my daughter was on a massively restricted diet as we tried to figure out just how allergic to milk she was. Turns out butter is OK so we’re back on the butter.
I try to stick to foods that have gone few as few steps as possible before I get them. I know how butter is made – heck, I’ve made it – so it doesn’t scare me. Crisco is kind of a mystery, plus it doesn’t taste as good. But, when I had to use it I didn’t simply refuse to make baked goods since I couldn’t use butter.
Wow, um, people are very serious about the Crisco! I realized recently that I used to make good cookies. My cookies have seriously sucked over the last few years. Then it dawned on me–I’ve been baking with butter and I used to use margerine. Margerine is the way to go!
True story- a few weeks ago when I dropped the girls off my mom gave me a sugar cookie baked by my great aunt. It was delicious! After I swallowed, she let me know that they were made with lard, and I nearly vommited.
I can’t believe i’m the one saying this, but Crisco is often the lube of choice for gay men who enjoy fisting. Perhaps your brother’s friends knew this!
OMG! Jo’s comment just blew my mind. And took this conversation in a whole new direction!
I didn’t grow up with Crisco so I never think to use it. I do think of butter as more natural and therefore healthier but I realize that assumption is based on idea rather than fact.
Ditto Leah. If you can’t have butter, then thank goodness for Crisco. Because my dairy-allergic girl WILL have her Christmas cookies.
And, as far as natural vs. unnatural, I’ve heard some people say that lard is actually better for you (ie. more natural) than Crisco.
*runs away*
I wish I was totally committed to all-natural foods and could say that’s why I use butter, but I have a diet coke and a lean cuisine for lunch every single day so I suppose I am just lucky that I don’t yet glow in the dark.
So, my confession: I use butter because that’s what I learned from my mom. End of story.
My mother has a recipe for white frosting that is a mixture of Crisco and butter. It tastes great, but when I found out what was in it, I got a little skeeved out. I think it’s what others have said — you wouldn’t eat it straight, so why would you eat it mixed up with other stuff?
Hah! Who knew so many people felt SO strongly about butter vs. Crisco? I’ll have to agree though, Crisco does ick me out a little. Just the way it LOOKS! But also because of the partially hydrogenated oil. I have finally been frightened into at least TRYING, most of the time, to avoid it. Butter is at least a naturally produced type of thing, and seems all farm fresh and wholesome, and margarine and Crisco and that kind of thing just seem icky and weird in comparison.
That said- my MIL uses Crisco in her cookies and they always turn out perfectly. She shared this fact with me sheepishly though, as though it was a dirty little secret, so I think the Crisco Paranoia is widespread.
Unfortunately, hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils are everywhere and in most everything (unless you go hardcore organic). When baking I won’t use Crisco or margarine. Being a chemical engineer and knowing how these things are made makes my stomach turn. I also try not to read labels at the store too often – I always end up walking away from foods I used to love.
Re the “If you won’t eat it by itself, why would you put it in your food?” arguments: Okay, but I wouldn’t eat baking soda, either. Or flour. Or canned pumpkin. Or cinnamon. OR BUTTER. As I know from cooking with children, there are TONS of ingredients that we “don’t taste” (because they are GROSS) but nevertheless use freely and happily in a recipe.
The fact that the fats are hydrogenated.
At warm temperatures, let’s say at body temperature, butter would be liquid, right?
Hydrogenated fats are solids even at warm temperatures.
So . . . if they build up in your arteries . . . they’re solid. Even at body temperature. Which is BAD NEWS.
That comment above from Paul is actually ME. Logged in as my husband, yet again. SORRY!
For me, it’s not a food snob thing, really. I have no VALUE JUDGEMENT of Crisco or Crisco users. For me, it’s the partially hydrogenated oils (at least that’s why I don’t use Crisco.)
Andrew Weil writes a lot about the specifics of those kinds of oils and their effects on the body. I just do my best to avoid them when/where I can.
It DOES make cookies better, though. I clearly remember that from mah childhood.
I have a personal obsession with butter. I LOVE butter. LOVE. It is my single greatest diet weakness, no kidding. I can eat carrots! Fruit! Lettuce! But you’ll be prying the butter from my cold, dead hands. For chrissake, I recently bought a flight of artisanal butters at the natural foods store and did my own TASTE TEST of butters to find my FAVORITE BUTTER.
Ergo, I don’t see why ANYONE would EVER substitute ANYTHING for my delicious, delicious butter. Ever. I don’t care how much better it makes the finished product. BUTTER.
BUTTER. OMG BUTTER BUTTER BUTTER!
I too think its the PR aspect. Butter USED to be evil and hence, I grew up eating margarine which in NOW evil along with Crisco. I too prefer to eat as many “natural” things as possible but it doesn’t stop me from enjoying things that I know are not “good for me” from time to time.
Butter is creamy and delish but makes flat crappy cookies. I perfer to bake with half butter and half Crisco.
OMG, Jonnkier, I love you. I keep wanting to do the pricey butter taste test – was there a difference? Which butter was the better butter?
Also, I don’t get what this problem people have with baking with butter – I bake with butter and my baked goods are good. They aren’t flat or crappy or bad in any way.
Now, using whole wheat flour in your cookies messes them up royally. But not butter.
I am somewhere between believing all the hype and not giving a shit.(That is, I am fully convinced that hydrogenated oils are incredibly unhealthy. But I get to eat my mother’s pie about 4 times per year, and it brings me immense pleasure. My blood vessels will just have to suck it up. Or not suck it up, as the case may be.)
If you’ve ever had delicious chocolate chip cookies or flaky pie crust and wondered what the secret was – it was Crisco. I only use Crisco for those two things, and since I don’t make those that often, I don’t consider it that unholy. It makes a big difference in taste and texture, like it or not! Butter is preferable in most things, but in those two examples, Crisco is the clear winner. Well, not “clear” in the sense of your arteries, but in taste at least.
I haven’t read all the other comments, so maybe I’m way repeating here. But I tend to avoid products which are not technically foods, but an artificially compounded collection of molecules that form a ‘food product’. In the case of Crisco, there are still a lot of unanswered questions about what exactly those chemically altered molecules do to our systems.
Many scientists are now saying that simply creating a product with the equivalent ‘nutritional facts’ as a real food does not create something of equal value for our bodies. It appears that naturally occurring foods simply have some ‘unknown elements’ that cannot be recreated by breaking them down to their building blocks.
So I tend to go for a slightly lower level of perfection in baked goods in favour of using whole and natural ingredients.
HA. Oh Stacie. I could discuss butter all day.
The best butter, to me, is Vermont Butter and Cheese Company’s cultured butter — not too sweet, just salty enough, with a great rich, smooth, creamy texture.
The worst is small-batch Amish butter, and I’ve tried several. Glorious, glorious crumbly texture, but MY GOD. I like a salty butter, but this is like, an entire POUND OF SALT, in each lump of butter. Kerrygold is also good, but it’s salty, too.
I haven’t been brave enough to make the leap to the goat butters. That’s next.
So Crisco is just margarine? (I’m from the UK, I haven’t even heard of Crisco before!) Nothing wrong with marge, its used widely here and I’ve never heard of people not wanting to eat something made with it. Butter is nicer on toast etc, but marge is used for cooking a lot.
Anyway, Crisco is higher in calories than it looks, cos the serving sizes are different and the ‘per 100g isn’t shown. Butter is 714 calories per 100g and Crisco is 913 calories per 100g. So a 12g tbsp of butter is actually 85 calories. (I need to get on with some work and stop procrastinating. Why am I working out calorie contents of margarine?)
But anyway, marge = fine. People can go and bake their own cookies if they’re going to turn their noses up at yours just for having margarine in them! :)
ok, I’m not reading the other comments. (I come here for what YOU have to say, isn’t that b!tchy? That I don’t read comments?)
I don’t know what people are saying, but I don’t think of the two as interchangeable. I grease cake pans and cookie sheets with Crisco because it works better.
Crisco makes a better pie crust, and better peanut butter cookies.
I don’t eat Crisco on toast. Does anyone?
I like butter better than margarine and other fake butters.
On the rare occasion that I fry something, I dip into the nasty jar of bacon drippings.
I’m a Southerner, born and bred. So we say YES to Crisco… Though I don’t personally use it much. We buy the tubs ’cause they’re cheaper than the sticks, and then end up not using it as much because the tub is messier to use. So I cook with margarine… Except for biscuits and pie crusts, and then we break out the Crisco.
On toast, though… Butter. Yummy.
People are snobs. I read the King Arthur Flour baking blog all the time, written by some excellent bakers up in Vermont, and they recognize that their foodie readers are snobs when it comes to Crisco. But the bakers like it because it bakes well.
Some of my favorite cookie recipes call for butter and Crisco, and I do not have a problem with using it. (Of course, I am from Georgia, and as many other commenters have pointed out, it’s more acceptable in the south.)
Hooray for CRISCO in baked goods. You can make a decent pie or biscuits without it either, I don’t care what they say! there are a HELL of a lot of other things out there that will kill you…Crisco is so far down on the list…I like butter just much as the next gal but it has it’s place…and maybe the habit people should be worried about is OVEREATING. A little Crisco and a moderate serving of cookies won’t hurt (: