Margarine

About margarine
Margarine, as a generic term, can indicate any of a wide range of butter substitutes. In many parts of the world, the market share of margarine and spreads has overtaken that of butter. Margarine is an ingredient in the preparation of many foods and, in recipes and colloquially, is sometimes called oleo (especially in older recipes).

Margarine naturally appears white or almost white: by forbidding the addition of artificial coloring agents, legislators in some jurisdictions found that they could protect their dairy industries by discouraging the consumption of margarine. Bans on adding color became commonplace in the U.S., Australasia and Canada; and, in some cases, those bans endured for almost 100 years. It did not become legal to sell colored margarine in Australia, for example, until the 1960s.

Soft margarine
Soft margarine is simply margarine which has been made spreadable (even when cold) through the use of emolients such as hydrogenated oils, though some more recent formulations have moved away from the hydrogenated oils.