Is I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Real Butter? vs Country Crock

Neither I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! Original Spread nor Country Crock Original Spread is butter under federal law: butter must be made from milk or cream with at least 80 percent milk fat, and neither ingredient list includes milk or cream.

Both are vegetable-oil spreads from the same company, Flora Food Group, and their labels differ on calories, saturated fat, sodium and added vitamins.

Key takeaways

• Under 21 U.S.C. 321a, butter must be made exclusively from milk or cream, and neither product's ingredient list includes either, so both are spreads.
• Per 1 tbsp (14 g), I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! Original lists 60 calories, 6 g total fat, 2 g saturated fat, and 90 mg sodium. Country Crock Original lists 50 calories, 6 g total fat, 1.5 g saturated fat, and 100 mg sodium.
• I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! lists vitamins E, D2, and B12 plus lactic acid. Country Crock lists vinegar and vitamin A palmitate as its vitamin.
• Both labels show 0 g trans fat per tablespoon.
• The figures here come from the brand pages cited below. The Nutrition Facts panel on the package you buy is the current reference.

Is Either Spread Real Butter? I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! vs Country Crock

No, neither spread is butter. Federal law (21 U.S.C. 321a) defines butter as food "made exclusively from milk or cream, or both, with or without common salt, and with or without additional coloring matter, and containing not less than 80 per centum by weight of milk fat." In plain terms, butter must come from milk or cream and contain at least 80 percent milk fat by weight. Neither ingredient list includes milk, cream, or butter.

The ingredient lists are built from plant oils. I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! Original begins with water and lists oils from soybean, palm kernel, and palm. Country Crock Original begins with purified water and lists soybean oil and palm kernel and palm oil. Both list soy lecithin, salt, natural flavors, and beta carotene for color.

The pages cited here do not state whether either product is certified vegan, do not give the soybean-to-palm oil ratio, and do not say whether the natural flavors are dairy-derived. Cross-contact statements for shared equipment are not described either, so the package is the place to check those details.

Spread Versus Margarine: What the Label Category Means

The label name can be confusing. "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!" is a brand name, and the product is still a spread. FDA's margarine standard (21 CFR 166.110) describes margarine as containing not less than 80 percent fat, made from edible fats and oils of vegetable or rendered animal carcass origin, combined with an aqueous phase such as water and/or milk. That 80 percent fat level is a regulatory threshold, and products with less fat than that cannot be labeled as margarine. Margarine under the standard must also contain vitamin A at not less than 15,000 international units per pound.

Is Country Crock Margarine?

Country Crock Original Spread is a spread, not margarine, based on its label facts. Its label lists 6 g of total fat in a 14 g (1 tablespoon) serving. That works out to about 43 percent fat by calculation, which is below the 80 percent threshold in the margarine standard. The 43 percent figure is a calculation from the label, not a percentage the brand states.

Both brands name their products "Original Spread" rather than margarine.

How the Ingredient Lists Compare: Oils, Lecithin, Acids and Vitamins

I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! states that a 1 tablespoon serving contains 5 g of soybean oil. Country Crock does not state an oil amount per serving on the cited page. Neither brand discloses the split between soybean and palm oils.

Both products list soy lecithin, and neither label explains what it does in the product. Both also list natural flavors and beta carotene for color.

The acid ingredients differ. I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! lists lactic acid, and Country Crock lists vinegar. The labels do not describe what either contributes to taste or shelf life.

The vitamin lines differ more. I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! lists vitamins E, D2, A, and B12, with vitamin E acetate and vitamin A palmitate named in a footnote. Country Crock lists vitamin A palmitate only, and its vitamin D and vitamin E content is not listed on the cited page.

Side-by-Side Nutrition Per Tablespoon: Calories, Fat, Saturated Fat and Sodium

The table below uses the 1 tablespoon (14 g) serving size stated on each cited label. Recipes can change, so check the Nutrition Facts panel on the package you buy.

Nutrient (per 1 tbsp, 14 g)	I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! Original	Country Crock Original
Calories	60	50
Total fat	6 g	6 g (8% DV)
Saturated fat	2 g	1.5 g (8% DV)
Trans fat	0 g	0 g
Polyunsaturated fat	3 g	2.5 g
Monounsaturated fat	1.5 g	1 g
Sodium	90 mg	100 mg (4% DV)
Total carbohydrate	0 g	0 g
Protein	0 g	0 g
Vitamin A	20%	10% DV
Vitamin D	20%	Not listed
Vitamin E	20%	Not listed
Vitamin B12	20%	Not listed
Omega-3 ALA	375 mg (23% of 1.6 g DV)	Not listed on cited page

The cited brand pages do not give percent daily values for total fat, saturated fat, or sodium for I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!, so those cells are not compared.

How the Per-Tablespoon Figures Compare

Per tablespoon, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! lists 60 calories, 2 g saturated fat, and 90 mg sodium. Country Crock Original lists 50 calories, 1.5 g saturated fat, and 100 mg sodium. Country Crock is 10 calories lower and has 0.5 g less saturated fat, while I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! has 10 mg less sodium. A single tablespoon label cannot show what else someone eats, so these figures describe the spreads only.

Heart-Health Claims: What the Brand Says and What It Does Not Show

I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! states that it has "70% less saturated fat than dairy butter." This is the brand's own claim. The comparison comes from the brand's footnote and is not an independent verification. The footnote gives 6 g total fat (2 g saturated fat) and 60 calories for the spread, against 11 g total fat (7 g saturated fat) and 100 calories for dairy butter per tablespoon, and it cites USDA FoodData Central, 2019.

The same page says the product is certified as a heart-healthy food by the American Heart Association, with a footnote stating that it meets the nutritional requirements of the Heart-Check Food Certification Program. Country Crock's Heart-Check status is not disclosed on its cited page.

These claims have limits. The 70 percent comparison is with dairy butter, not with other foods or other spreads. A certification refers to the program's nutritional requirements, not to a person's overall diet or health outcome. The program's criteria and the full calculation method behind the footnote are not disclosed in the material cited here.

Does Either Spread Have Trans Fat?

No. Both cited labels show 0 g trans fat per 1 tablespoon (14 g). FDA determined in 2015 that partially hydrogenated oils, then the major source of artificial trans fat, are no longer Generally Recognized as Safe. For most uses, manufacturers could not add them after June 18, 2018. FDA also requires trans fat to be declared on the Nutrition Facts label, as described on its trans fat page. The ingredient lists cited here name soybean, palm kernel, and palm oils, and do not list partially hydrogenated oils.

How to Read Spread Labels Yourself: A Checklist

• Check the front-of-package name first. "Butter" and "margarine" have federal standards with an 80 percent fat minimum; a lower-fat product is sold as a spread.
• Confirm the serving size. Both cited labels use 1 tablespoon (14 g). The Country Crock Original container is listed as 15 oz (425 g) with 30 servings.
• Compare total fat and saturated fat at the same serving size.
• Read sodium in milligrams and percent daily value, then compare the same serving.
• Check the trans fat line, and scan the ingredient list for partially hydrogenated oils.
• Scan for milk, cream, butter, whey, and natural flavors, and read any allergen or cross-contact statement on the package.
• Note added vitamins and acids, since these lists differ between brands.

Soy appears in both ingredient lists as soy lecithin and soybean oil, so people with soy allergies should read each package carefully. For broader context on sodium sources, see Sodium Beyond Salt: 6 Scanned Labels With Sodium Additives.

These comparisons describe two specific products at the label values cited here.

Want to see how a label reads ingredient by ingredient? Scan your next label with Aurascan and review each ingredient with its cited evidence.