There was a time when a can of Crisco could be found in pretty much every kitchen in America, but the shortening has taken quite a hit in recent years. The product was first created as an alternative to lard, which had a bad reputation in the early 20th century, but Crisco eventually developed a bad reputation of its own, due in part to the large amount of trans fats. What exactly is in this cooking product, and does it have a chance of becoming popular again? Let's take a look at the real reason why people stopped buying Crisco.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00It's hard to imagine, but just a few short decades ago, almost everything was cooked
00:05in lard.
00:06In fact, before it too disappeared from mines and kitchen cabinets, Crisco was actually
00:10invented specifically to replace lard after Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle's portrayal
00:16of the meat packaging industry, and lard specifically, caused public opinion to shift.
00:21The reason it was so horrifying to readers is that it was less a documentary about the
00:26and more Sweeney Todd, describing the meatpacking workers falling into the hot vats of lard
00:31and only their bones being fished out before the product was packaged and sold for human
00:36consumption.
00:37While the book was technically fiction, the imagery was powerful enough to cause lard
00:41to fall out of public favor.
00:43Tina, you fat lard, come get some dinner!
00:49On top of this, in the 1950s, scientists were calling out saturated fats like butter and
00:54lard as unhealthy and contributing factors to heart disease, causing more restaurants
00:58and food manufacturers to turn away from lard and look for other fats and shortenings.
01:03Of course, this opened up space in the diets and kitchens of the United States for a new
01:07lard replacement, and Procter & Gamble were quick to fill this hole in the market by creating
01:12Crisco.
01:13Crisco was a hydrogenated cottonseed oil that was basically lard in every way.
01:18However, it wasn't made from animal fat, so it escaped all of the existing issues around
01:22lard.
01:23What really sold Crisco, though, was its marketing campaign.
01:27Print advertisements drew comparisons to the benchmark lard and touted Crisco as not only
01:32animal-free, but also healthier, easier to digest, and a cheaper fat that was ideal for
01:37families.
01:38But that wasn't all.
01:39The main strategy implemented to sell Crisco as a replacement to lard, and not just another
01:44shortening, was that it leaned on branding as pure and trustworthy, packaging the product
01:49in white and claiming that, quote, the stomach welcomes Crisco.
01:53Most consumers didn't even know the product was made from cottonseed oil, since the original
01:57Crisco packaging did not list its only ingredient.
02:01Back then, it was not required for products to list ingredients, but most did.
02:05Crisco, though, used that loophole to its marketing advantage.
02:09Because cottonseed oil was seen as a cheap ingredient, often used to cut other oils or
02:14even lard to lower costs, it was in Crisco's best interest to focus on other aspects of
02:18its product.
02:19For instance, it was the first solid fat made entirely of a once-liquid plant oil,
02:24and was created using a new and revolutionary hydrogenation process.
02:29That said, this was not the only science used to market Crisco.
02:33While today we know better, in the 1980s, trans fats were actually seen as a healthier
02:37alternative to saturated fats found in other oils like palm or coconut, with even the Center
02:42for Science and Public Interest calling Burger King's switch to partially hydrogenated oils
02:46as, quote, a great boon to America's arteries.
02:49The Crisco marketing campaign took advantage of this, as well as sponsoring cooking programs
02:54and sending samples to schools and hospitals.
02:57The result was astounding, and soon every household had a container of Crisco in its
03:02cabinet.
03:03Now you know why your grandmother always had it on hand.
03:05So what changed?
03:06While it's true that Crisco had much less of the saturated fats found in lard, coconut
03:11oil, and palm oil, those healthy trans fats have since been linked to clogged arteries
03:17and heart disease, making the product a whole lot less appealing to consumers.
03:21In fact, the World Health Organization has enacted a plan to eliminate artificial trans
03:26fats by 2023, claiming they are not generally recognized as safe.
03:30When the science came out, some food companies attempted to conduct counter-research to re-establish
03:35trans fats as healthy, but they were unable to prove it, and in response, many changed
03:40their recipes to use what was now considered healthier fats like sunflower oil.
03:44Crisco was one of them, replacing the cottonseed oil with palm, soy, and canola oils.
03:50As a result, the Crisco you'll find on shelves today is almost entirely free of trans fats
03:54and has been since 2007.
03:56However, just as with lard, the reputational damage had been done, and the stigma around
04:01Crisco remains.
04:03While it will always be a great resource for vegan or dairy-free baking, Crisco is unlikely
04:07to return to its prized spot in the American kitchen.
04:15If you liked this video, please subscribe.
04:16See you next time.