TASTE TEST : The UnButters

Two years ago those who wanted a no-cholesterol spread had a choice of margarines. The spreads may have been made of different vegetable oils, but their fat and calorie content were pretty much the same. But in this cholesterol-crazy world, an increasing number of butter substitutes are on the market for those who wanted a no-cholesterol spread, and most of them aren’t even called margarine. Butter substitutes have wacky names and are formulated from all kind of ingredients; they can contain from 25 to 100 calories per tablespoon. Fat content varies too: The substitutes can contain as many as 3 grams of saturated fat per tablespoon or as little as none. Real butter contains 108 calories and 6 grams of saturated fat per tablespoon.

But how do they taste? Last week the Times Food staff sat down to a serious tasting of 16 butter substitutes. (A stick of butter was also thrown into the mix.) Each was identified only by number and was tasted on plain French bread.

The butter was almost instantly identified by most tasters; no substitute rivaled it for taste. But in both the regular and light categories, the top 2 substitutes each contained a small percentage of a dairy product.

Had the categories been combined, the top contender in the light category would have run third, and the last in the light would have run a very distant last.

Butter Substitutes, Regular Product: 1. (tie) Move Over Butter

Saturated Fat: 2 grams/tbsp

Calories: 90/tbsp

Ingredients: Partly buttermilk Product: 1. (tie) Land o’ Lakes Lightly Salted Spread With Sweet Cream

Saturated Fat: 3 grams/tbsp

Calories: 90/tbsp

Ingredients: Soybean oil,cream, milk Product: 3. Canola Harvest Margarine

Saturated Fat: 1 gram/tbsp

Calories: 100/tbsp

Ingredients: Canola oil, etc. Product: 4. Shedd’s Spread Country Crock

Saturated Fat: 2 grams/tbsp

Calories: 80/tbsp

Ingredients: Vegetable oils Product: 5. Gold n Soft Margarine

Saturated Fat: 2 grams/tbsp

Calories: 100/tbsp

Ingredients: Soybean oil, etc. Product: 6. Nucoa No-Burn Real Margarine

Saturated Fat: 2 grams/tbsp

Calories: 90/tbsp

Ingredients: Soybean oil, etc. Product: 7. I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter

Saturated Fat: 2 grams/tbsp

Calories: 90/tbsp

Ingredients: Partly buttermilk Product: 8. Touch of Butter

Saturated Fat: 2 grams/tbsp

Calories: 90/tbsp

Ingredients: Soybean oil and butter Product: 9. Promise

Saturated Fat: 2 grams/tbsp

Calories: 90/tbsp

Ingredients: Sunflower oil, sweet dairy whey

Light Butter Substitutes

(1 gram or less saturated fat and 60 calories or less per tablespoon) Product: 1. I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, Light

Saturated Fat: 1 gram/tbsp

Calories: 60/tbsp

Ingredients: Vegetable oil, some buttermilk Product: 2. Promise Extra-Light

Saturated Fat: less than 1 gram/tbsp

Calories: 50/tbsp

Ingredients: Sunflower oil, sweet dairy whey, soybean oil Product: 3. Nucoa Smart Beat

Saturated Fat: 0 grams

Calories: 25/tbsp

Ingredients: Canola and soy oils Product: 4. Promise Ultra Spread

Saturated Fat: 0 grams

Calories: 35/tbsp

Ingredients: Vegetable oils Product: 5. Diet Imperial

Saturated Fat: 1 gram/tbsp

Calories: 50/tbsp

Ingredients: Soybean oil, etc. Product: 6. Weight Watchers Extra Light Spread

Saturated Fat: 1 gram/tbsp

Calories: 45/tbsp

Ingredients: Vegetable oil, etc.