Posted on 03/18/2005 5:15:29 PM PST by UnklGene
Court upholds Quebec's 'white margarine' -
Canadian Press
Friday, March 18, 2005
OTTAWA (CP) - Quebecers will continue to eat white margarine, at least for now, after the Supreme Court rejected arguments from manufacturer Unilever which opposed provincial restrictions against the sale of yellow margarine.
The justices made their decision immediately after hearing from company lawyer Gerald Tremblay for an hour and while refusing to listen to arguments from lawyers for the Quebec government and Quebec Dairy Producers.
During a brief oral decision, Justice Louis LeBel rejected all aspects of Unilever's argument.
They therefore confirmed the rulings of the Quebec Superior Court in 1999 and the Quebec Court of Appeal in 2003 that validated the Quebec regulation which prevents the sale of margarine in the same colour as butter.
Former Liberal premier Robert Bourassa passed the rule in 1987, which at that time mirrored a measure in Ontario.
Quebec said it was designed to ensure consumers weren't confused about the products, but ultimately protected the dairy industry.
According to dairy producers, 600 farms and 3,000 jobs would be threatened if margarine took butter's yellow glow.
Unilever said the rule reduced margarine sales in Quebec and boosted its expenses to produce white margarine only for the Quebec market.
The British-Dutch company argued in court that the regulation contravenes the North American Free Trade Agreement and World Trade Organization rules.
"The most important thing is the credibility of our governments when they sign international treaties," Tremblay said in an interview.
But Jean-Francois Jobin said the ruling is extremely important because it reinforces the "validity of the law."
"We couldn't have hoped for more because they confirmed without reservation our right to regulate," he said.
The ruling doesn't entirely end the debate on the colour of margarine.
Quebec must now defend its regulation before a special committee on interprovincial trade within Canada.
The Charest government last summer accepted Alberta's request to establish the committee to review if such regulations hamper such trade.
All I can say is, "?".
In the late '40s, early '50s, all margarine in so. Cal was white. A small packet of yellow food coloring came with the package. My job: mix the yellow into the white. In the early '60s, margarine was outlawed completely in Wisconsin.
The ruling doesn't entirely end the debate on the colour of margarine.
Ah, the latest news from the Provinces.
When I was a kid, I remember when yellow margarine was illegal in Pennsylvania, and we would get yellow food coloring an mix it in with the white margarine.
...said it was designed to ensure consumers weren't confused about the products....
Those Quebeckers must either be really stupid or colorblind.
Why would anyone eat margarine when butter is available?
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
I can't believe it's not about butter.
Personally I think the nasty stuff should be dyed green.
SO9
Quebec's a real place and is strange for real.
It sounds al'wite wit me. Wite answer for sure. h h
Thanks for the excellent margarine link.
Those of us old enough to remember rationing and the introduction of imitation butter can still remember taking a package of white margarine in a plastic pouch and snapping the enclosed bubble of red dye inside, then kneading the whole thing until it turned a rather yellow, orangish color and setting it out in the butter dish.
1951: The Federal margarine tax system came to an end. Pre-colored margarine was enjoyed by a consumer also pleased with lower prices. Consumption almost doubled in the next twenty years. State color bans, taxes, licenses and other restrictions began to fall.
Since you asked, it's all part of the better-for-you marketing of processed foods containing all kinds of additives. What a sales job they've done to contribute to the obesity problem.
Canada is a strange country .............if we ignore them, they might just go away
Margarine is nothing but grain oil plastic.
LOL I've always thought they tasted different. Don't tell me I've always been wrong, my whole life a lie. Noooooooooooooo
My guess is that if Quebec allowed yellow margarine, then restaurants and other industries would begin snapping the cheaper alternative up since customers wouldn't know the difference. When's the last time you saw butter on a list of ingredients?
"In the early '60s, margarine was outlawed completely in Wisconsin."
Is that still the case? If so, perhaps I should be re-considering Wisconsin, butter, beer and Green Bay, what's not to like. Oh yeah, and cheese!
I've been around so long I call it OREO. - tom
My wife corrected me OLEO is the margarine. - Tom
Ok, first of all we need a bunny with a pancake on it's head!!!
Secondly, all I can say is:
Are you SERIES??? This is HUGH!!! I have to put my BEEBER on STUNED!
OMG white margarine vs yellow, is this all these people have to do????
Land o' Lakes White American cheese for me, every time!
Quebec is full of snooty French people and I'm pretty sure the snooty French chefs at snooty French restaurants would rather take the loss of profit than settle for margarine.
Margarine simply does not work the same way with different cooking applications as butter. I'm a chef, trust me on that.
I think of Land o' Lakes every time someone writes "LOL" in a comment.
Lack of chat room experience I suppose.
Land O Lakes white American, agreed, yummy, accept no substitutes and have it sliced off the block none of this processed packaged in plastic crap!
All hail the power of the dairymen's lobby! They are more powerful even than the NRA.
Federal Regulations for Margarine Sales
-ccm
For some reason the Land O'Lakes white american tastes sooo much better than the yellow.
My folks wouldn't have it in the house nor would hardly any of the rest of the farmers. In fact, I recall my dad noting one time that another farmers kid my age was getting a pound of margarine, separate from his folks purchases so it wouldn't be known that they were using it---
--it was a big political issue about like daylight saving time but colored margarine finally was legalized--probably late '50's--
When's the last time you were in a restaurant?
Unless you specifically request butter, you are getting margarine in most restaurants.
White has a sharper taste than yellow!
FFS! What a waste of time.
Of course we waste even more time here in the USA.
I sure hope that tort-reform thing gets to be law.
After seeing all the stupidity and greed in our civil courts I am about ready to go with the "loser pays all costs" rule.
Actually, colored margarine wasn't legalized in Wisconsin until 1967. I remember my mother getting bootlegged "oleo" from Illinois.
--I aparently stand corrected--
Thank god we have judges to protect us retards from mixing the two things up becasue lord knows when i go in to buy butter or margarine i pop open each and every package to see what color they are. I dont READ THE BOX to see if it says butter or margarine. I cant see what color they are till i take the package home and open it after i buy it these nanny state fascist make me want to puke
One of my childhood memories is driving to Wisconsin for vaation every summer. We knew we were approaching the isconsin state line when we saw the "Last Chance for Oleo" signs north of Chicago. LOL!
Margarine = evil stuff.
Whey back when (sorry, couldn't help that), margerine was sold with a packet of food coloring, so that you could make it butter colored. I wonder why they don't just do that in Quebec?
Mark
When congress holds hearings on baseball?
Mark
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