For one reason or another dairy free spreads like that of Nuttelex, seem to be marketed as the healthy alternative to margarine. I’m not entirely sure why, perhaps it’s the name? Maybe consumers believe that Nuttelex implies that it contains nuts? Funnily enough, it doesn’t, so let’s unpack it some more.
NOTE: Before we delve in, please know I am not against any particular brand of product in any way, this is simply a post based on dairy-free spreads and after much research, these are the main options available in supermarkets.
MARGARINE
Before I delve into dairy-free spreads, I want to draw your attention to margarine. I’ve written an entire post about why I choose not to use margarine here. If you’ve not read this article, I HIGHLY recommend you jump over there first as this post will make a whole lot more sense if you do. Read it? Great. Now you know what to look for.
For those of you who have read it, you will know that the common ingredients found in Margarine are listed below:
Vegetable oils 65% (containing 52% canola & sunflower oil), water, salt, emulsifiers (soy lecithin, 471), preservative 202, food acid (lactic),milk solids, maltodextrin, natural colour (beta-carotene), vitamins A & D, flavour.
Know that the big players here are the vegetable oils and emulsifiers (read all about these here at the margarine post). And whilst we’re at it, the preservatives and maltodextrin aren’t great either but we won’t go there….
NUTTELEX
Whilst we’ve still got the ingredients of Margarine fresh in our minds, let’s jump to the ingredients found in Nuttelex Original:
Vegetable Oil (containing sunflower oil 41%), water, salt, emulsifiers (471, sunflower lecithin), natural flavour, vitamins A, D2, E, natural colour (beta carotene).
They are almost the same. To highlight my point, I’ve included this table below:
I’ve gone through the list of Nuttelex options and I’ve tried to find the ones that are perceived the healthiest. The results, still very much the same:
OLIVE OIL NUTTELEX: Vegetable oils 65% (olive oil 21%), water, salt, emulsifiers (471, sunflower lecithin), natural flavour, vitamins A, D2, E, natural colour (beta carotene).
NOTE: Olive oil is only 21% of the vegetable oil content. That means the remaining 79% is from one of the other sources i.e. canola oil, sunflower oil or palm oil.
NUTTELEX with Coconut Oil: Vegetable oil (containing 18% coconut oil), water, coconut oil, salt, emulsifiers [non-palm] 471 sunflower lecithin, natural flavour, vitamin D, E, natural flavour (beta carotene).
NOTE: Coconut Oil is only 18% of the vegetable oil content. That means the remaining 82% is from one of the other sources i.e. canola oil, sunflower oil or palm oil.
PALM OIL
As per the Nuttelex website, the only option that doesn’t contain Palm Oil is the Coconut Oil variety. You can read all about why Palm Oil is an issue for both animals and the environment here.
ALTERNATIVES
I personally always opt for real food. I’ve included my favourites below:
- Butter – for those of you interested, butter’s ingredients are: milk, cream and maybe some salt. I know what I’d rather 🙂
- Avocado
- Tahini
- Olive Oil (I LOVE dipping bread in olive oil with balsamic vinegar or dukkah)
- Coconut Butter
- Coconut Oil
CHOLESTEROL
If you’re having issues with managing your cholesterol, please talk to your health professional prior to making the switch.
Thank you for this article. I appreciate your consideration of animals and the environment but it’s dissapointing to then see you suggest butter because it contains milk and cream. Dairy cows live short lives (less than a quarter of their normal lifespan), are impregnated every year and their babies removed leaving them crying for eachother with their male babies killed as ‘waste’. The lives of wild animals is important, and so are the lives of the animals we use for making butter.
Hi Skye,
Thanks for taking the time to comment. I feel as though you’ve overlooked the intention of the article – that is avoiding processed foods in a bid to adopt a more wholesome diet. As you can see in the body of the article, I have provided a number of wholesome vegan alternatives if butter doesn’t suit your own personal preference.
I think you have failed to mention that some people are unable to use natural products due to intolerances and it may have been a better more informed article if you had listed dairy free alternatives for example in baking cakes etc. which butter is hard to substitute.
Hi, not sure if my message got through, do you know what the natural flavour in nuttelex is? They refuse to tell me. I’m concerned about MSG and free glutamates. Thank you!
I haven’t been informed either, sorry!
Hi Karen,
Thanks for the feedback! As you can see the article was titled “Why I Don’t Use Nuttelex”; it wasn’t designed to be a one stop shop for ALL dairy free advice and information. If you’re struggling to find options suitable to your current situation, I encourage you to speak to a qualified health professional to help you navigate the challenges you face. Intolerances are very different to allergies – they aren’t a life sentence; instead they are often the sign of an imbalance in the gut itself and something I would recommend addressing ASAP.
I’m doubtful of your suggestion that cow’s butter is a good alternative. When I attended epidemiology courses at the top medical school in my country we were taught that butter, above all other common food items, is the leading cause of death in populations. We were also taught that margarine and alternatives like nuttelex aren’t much better either for the same reasons you give. The other alternatives you suggest were covered also and suggested as healthier options, with avocado and coconut ranking highest if I remember correctly.
Hi Alyse,
Yes, I agree with you that butter from grass fed cows is good for me. I also use ghee for cooking.
It is interesting to observe that a considerable number of products contain the words “vegetable oil” as one of the ingredients.
Hi Alyse
You mention coconut butter. Is that something you make or purchase.
Simon
Thanks, I appreciate the article. I was under a different impression also! Will change back to butter ?
What if you test sensitive to all dairy products? What is you choice. I use Nuttelex because of my issue. Please help?
I am glad I read your article on nuttelex, I made the switch from Butter to nuttelex due to cholesterol concerns. I am not a fan of margarines have tried many but was always aware of the processing of margarines, particularly Canola content. I will now explore more options after readiing your article.
Ive been making cookies and using Nuttelex and quite a lot extra than normal for shortbread. I think that it triggered depression but i suffer a slight depression on and off and have adjusted my diet to help with it and lately ive had a few bouts of heavier depression but unsure why as my diet is quite good. During this time i read about seed oils and decided to try butter instead even though im vegetarian and try to stay away from eating dairy. I do not drink milk and use oat milk instead. Anyway after not using Nuttelex i feel great and have not had a day of depression since. Made me wonder if the seed oils trigger depression in people who are prone to the black dog or could even cause it.
Great article.
Covers what you mean very well.
You will always have people that read with slightly different intentions.
No more margarine or nuttlex for me. I stick with olive oil.
We use Nuttelex as it’s the only viable option as we’re lactose intolerant. If lactose free butter were available I’d use that instead.
The other lactose free alternatives significantly alter the taste too much to be general use spreads.
Some of the options mentioned above 🙂
Purchase 🙂 Grab this from your local health food store.
Hi Alyse, Thanks for your insight, I only use Coconut oil & Butter & Coconut oil has many health benefits for all brain problems. – Great for brushing your teeth, & as a SunScreen.
In Indonesia it is also used for Hepatitis B&C, Diabetes type 1 & ( where it’s over 24degrees) it’s being used as a better alternative along with Palm oil in cars for lubrication.- Red Palm Oil has health benefits if it is processed well.
My parents & Grandparents used Ghee & Butter. Olive oil was only found in the medical cabinet along with Castor oil.
When the farmers in Tasmania fed their cattle with the Canola plant material they went blind for 2 days. One Friend who had Macular Degeneration of her eyes was asked by her Dr. if she was eating Canola oil?
Now I have been told Olive Oil has contamination in it.
There are nutrisionists and more nutriotionists. But if people are serious about their health I strongly suggest they read the work of Patrick Holford. He is heading a revolution based on nutrition health care. One of his many books is called The Optimum Nutrition Bible. Another is Say No To Heart Disease. All based on scientific work. The main point I would like to make is that the human body is an ecosystem and health involves the entire human body. For example, talking about cholesterol on its own could be missing the real issue. As Patrick Holford says “….we are digging our own graves with a knife and fork, choosing high sugar, high fat, highly processed and synthetic food.”
Would you tell me what the natural flavour in Nuttelex is please. I cannot tolerate MSG, it gives me migraines.
They say it’s gluten and dairy free but I’m allergic to both and when I eat nuttelex I bloat up like it has a lot of gluten
Nuttelex is supposed to be gluten and dairy free but when I use it I bloat up a lot like it has gluten in it and so I can’t eat it. It must be in the emulsifiers I think. I’m gluten and dairy intolerant.
I use Tablelands dairy free buttery spread and I don’t have any issues with it
thank you
Omg please leave this lady alone . She wasn’t trying to give every option or any advice.
Do your own research, this is just her research. Not trying to please anyone, just putting out there what she knows.
Some people ?
Interesting, in the time since you wrote this post, Nuttelex seems to have changed their recipes. On the Nuttelex website, the Original flavour now has only 5% sunflower oil and the Olive Oil flavour has only 14% olive oil. I was looking online to find out what type of “vegetable oils” they use because lately when I’ve been eating Nuttelex, too much makes me feel ill, a feeling I usually only get when I consume low quality oil.
I have used Nuttlex (with olive oil) for many years. I don’t use butter or magarine. Could you please tell me any substitutes worth trying ?? and if Nuttlex is not that good for you ??
Cheers,
Kim
Goodness..it’s sad to see that some people believe butter is bad for you. Unfortunately many years ago they wanted to sell that margarine was healthy and we all know where that ended up. Butter is natural,yes it comes from cows not a chemical hand book. Yes some farms may do harm to the cows but not all.. I think if ppl did their research instead of believing sources that attempt to label natural food like butter a bad thing then we wouldn’t need so many drugs to rectify the consequences of the bad foods…mind you medications can be pretty dire to the body so let’s live as healthy as we can while consuming natural products and then hopefully we can keep the medications at bay.
You are very wrong with butter being healthy. Dairy isn’t good for you
Amen. Use butter (literally just milk), or olive oil if you’re lactose intolerant.
The only problem with margarine is the process some companies use to extract the oil from the seeds, hydrogenated. If it’s not hydrogenated it’s cold pressed which is fine just like olive oil. There are some cold pressed Canola oils on the market. And they are organic as well. And are good to cook with and fry with. They have lots of omega 3&6
According to Mercola, highly processed seed oils(heated) are the major cause of our health issues and should be avoided. Most baking goods use these oils because they are cheaper. I have gone back to grass fed butter plus olive and coconut oil. Moderation is the key. I just read out the Nutalex ingredients to my wife. She also uses grape seed oil which is also heat treated. Looking at people when you walk down the street tells you that there is a problem with our food. Do your research and choose what is right for you.
I think it’s important to note that Nuttelex use only ethical and certifiably sustainable palm oil in their dairy free spreads, so it’s not really reasonable to cite it as not ethical for this reason.
You’ve noted issues for animals and the environment, then you shouldn’t be using dairy products like butter, milk or cream. It’s an incredibly cruel industry, forcibly impregnating cows for their milk and removing babies from their mother, when there are alternative options available.
Not to mention dairy products are incredibly bad for heart health as well. I think it’s important to have all the information.
I strongly suspect that you have an arrangement with the dairy industry to defame Nuttelex. I avoid cruel dairy produce by using Nuttelex and Peanuts Butter.
I find pure butter at room temperature mixed with extra virgin Olive oil to be the best.
You get the benefits of the two ingredients.
Dear Alyse
I live in New Zealand and I am lactose free. There are not many healthy alternatives are you able to suggest something.
Regards Jane
Horrid margarine…how about Tahini ….I only have butter usually..feel guilty about dairy industry at same time….. and seed oils …have seen such reports on how they are not the most beneficial product to consume…
Tahini is a great option 🙂
Hi Jane, lots of wholesome swaps for butter have been listed in the notes above. Whilst I am not recommending butter for you, butter is naturally low in lactose and is generally well-tolerated by most people with lactose intolerance – it’s worth speaking to your practitioner about this.
Love this idea!
Rest assured I have absolutely no affiliation with the dairy industry at all Peter 🙂 I genuinely respect and support your choice, and I love that you’ve found alternatives that align with your values. Everyone should feel free to make the choices that are right for them <3
I’m certainly not dismissing the efforts Nuttelex makes to source certified sustainable palm oil. That’s a valid point, and I appreciate you raising it.
However, sustainability and ethics involve several different considerations, including animal welfare, environmental impact and health. I also think it’s important to recognise that people make different choices based on their individual circumstances, knowledge and priorities.
I don’t think the conversation needs to be about judging people for consuming dairy or other products, but rather encouraging informed choices and being open to discussing the alternatives. There are ethical and environmental considerations across many food industries, and acknowledging one issue doesn’t mean we should overlook another.
That’s a question for Nuttelex Lorraine 🙂 You can contact them on 1300 389 517