I heard this legislator being interviewed on local radio yesterday.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A state legislator wants to dump a 19th-century law banning the sale of yellow margarine, though it’s been years since any violator was ordered to spread ‘em.Rep. Sara Lampe said Tuesday she plans to file legislation repealing the law when the 2009 legislative session starts in January.
Most of Missouri’s restrictions on imitation butter date to 1895, and they were last amended in 1939. Although the state no longer enforces them, the penalties could still make dealers in contraband dairy product toast: up to a month in jail and a $100 fine for first-time offenders and six months in jail and a $500 fine for repeat offenders.
Enforcement of the law falls to the state Agriculture Department, and officials there didn’t know when someone was last prosecuted under it. Case records from the late 19th and early 20th century show that Missouri courts upheld the constitutionality of the restrictions in several appeals.
Agriculture Department spokeswoman Misti Preston said it’s likely that the Legislature restricted margarine and other imitation butter products to protect Missouri’s dairy industry, which was a key business for the state in the early 20th century.
My grandparents told me long ago that oleo or margarine couldn’t have the yellow coloring added to it. They told me it used to include the coloring packet so you could mix it in at home. That way you knew if you were getting butter or a substitute.
As far as I know, Quebec still has a similar law that IS enforced.