Celebrity chef James Martin calls for margarine to be banned

James Martin has said ‘dreadful’ margarine should be banned and we should all be enjoying full-fat butter instead.

The celebrity chef has previously weighed in on whether eggs should be kept in the fridge or not - he’s firmly in the ‘out of the fridge’ camp, in case you’re wondering.

And Martin has also got some pretty firm opinions on margarine, writing in his 2021 book about the benefits of growing up on ‘full-fat milk and cream’.

For those not in the know about their toast topping spreads, while butter is usually made with milk or cream, margarine is made using a blend of vegetable oils - and it turns out that Martin is not a fan.

He said: “Margarine should be banned. It's dreadful, dreadful stuff, it's two elements away from plastic, it's horrendous stuff.

"It's the ready-made food, it's the packet food, the hidden salt, hidden fat. That's the problem in this country.

ITV

“It's not the butter in a butter block or butter you put on your toast. It's the fact that not as many people cook in the UK as they do in France or Italy or Spain.”

So there you go.

Martin previously warned home cooks against storing their eggs in the fridge, saying that it’s a bad idea due to their shells.

During a segment on This Morning, Martin showed off two Victoria sponge cakes he’d made using two different types of eggs - chicken and duck.

He then spoke about the differences between the two types of eggs, stressing that it was the ‘quality’ of the eggs that mattered most.

He then went on to tell viewers how to store them and explained that as ‘all eggs are porous’ they should ‘never be kept in the fridge’ because they will end up 'absorbing all the flavours from the fridge' through their shells.

Pixabay/Ken Boyd

Martin also claimed that cold eggs aren’t the best to cook with and they should be used at room temperature.

However, the definitively named egginfo.co.uk disagrees.

The site claims: “Best practice is to store eggs in the fridge; that way the temperature is always at a constant and your eggs will be fresher!

"When you do get around to using them, try to leave the eggs out of the fridge for around 30 minutes to bring them up to room temperature, otherwise cooking times could change depending on how you’re using them.”