I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Gets Nutrition Upgrade

People who eat  I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter are now eating a healthier version of the butter substitute.

Made by Unilever, the butter substitute is now made with plant-based oils, purified water and no artificial preservatives. It is also the first spread from Unilever in the U.S. to be made with non-GMO sourced ingredients. Mike Faherty, vice president of Unilever Foods, North America, described the changes to I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter as “the start of a complete category transformation that will help us grow the buttery spreads business.”

The re-vamped I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter is part of the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan (USLP), the company’s sustainability blueprint, which covers all of its products globally. One of the goals detailed in the USLP is to double the proportion of products in the company’s portfolio that meet the "highest nutritional standards" by 2020. It is on its way to meeting that goal, as 31 percent of its products in 2013 met these standards.

Part of meeting the highest nutritional standards is reducing trans fat, sugar, salt and saturated fat in products. By 2012, 100 percent of Unilever’s portfolio by volume did not contain trans fats from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Before 2010, the company had already reduced the amount of sugar in its ready-to-drink teas, and it will reduce sugar amounts in them by an extra 25 percent by 2020. It has cut sugar levels in these teas by 11 percent so far.

The first goal regarding salt reduction was to reduce salt levels to six grams per day by the end of 2010, which meant reductions up to 25 percent. It met that goal and set another to reduce salt levels by an additional 15 to 20 percent -- to meet the target of five grams of salt per day. By 2013, 55 percent of Unilever's food products complied with the five grams target. The goal by 2020 is to have 75 percent of its food products meet the target.

The fat reduction target for 2017 is to have 90 percent of its global portfolio of soft vegetable oil spreads contain no more than 33 percent saturated fat and at least 67 percent of unsaturated fat. By 2012, 92 percent of its leading spreads by volume contained less than 33 percent saturated fat. By 2013, 82 percent of its global portfolio of soft vegetable oil spreads met both 2017 targets.

Another part of the USLP is to provide labels on all of its products to help its consumers eat a nutritionally-balanced diet. All of Unilever's products in North America and Europe contain labels with full nutritional information.  By 2015, all of its products globally will contain full nutritional information.

Image credit: I Can't Believe It's Not Butter