Crisco is an American brand of

shortening Shortening is any fat that is a solid at room temperature and used to make crumbly pastry and other food products. Although butter is solid at room temperature and is frequently used in making pastry, the term ''shortening'' seldom refers to ...

that is produced by

B%26G Foods B&G Foods is an American branded foods holding company based in Parsippany, New Jersey. The company was formed in 1996 to acquire Bloch & Guggenheimer, a Manhattan-based producer of pickles, relish and condiments which had been founded in 1889. ...

. Introduced in June 1911 by

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer he ...

, it was the first shortening to be made entirely of

vegetable oil Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are oils extracted from seeds or from other parts of fruits. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are ''mixtures'' of triglycerides. Soybean oil, grape seed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of seed oils, ...

, originally

cottonseed oil Cottonseed oil is cooking oil from the seeds of cotton plants of various species, mainly '' Gossypium hirsutum'' and ''Gossypium herbaceum'', that are grown for cotton fiber, animal feed, and oil. Cotton seed has a similar structure to other oi ...

. Additional products marketed under the Crisco brand include a

cooking spray Cooking spray is a spray form of an oil as a lubricant, lecithin as an emulsifier, and a propellant such as food-grade alcohol, nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide or propane. Cooking spray is applied to frying pans and other cookware to prevent food ...

, various

olive oil Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: ...

s, and other cooking oils, including

canola Close-up of canola blooms Canola flower Rapeseed oil is one of the oldest known vegetable oils. There are both edible and industrial forms produced from rapeseed, the seed of several cultivars of the plant family Brassicaceae. Historically, ...

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn ( North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. ...

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible Seed, seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small ...

, sunflower, and blended oils.

History

The process of the

hydrogenation Hydrogenation is a chemical reaction between molecular hydrogen (H2) and another compound or element, usually in the presence of a catalyst such as nickel, palladium or platinum. The process is commonly employed to reduce or saturate org ...

of organic substances in gas form was developed by Paul Sabatier in the late 19th century. Building on James Boyce's 1890s work in the successful development of a consumable solid lard substitute, Cottolene, in the U.S.,The Holland Evening Sentinel; Holland, Michigan; 4 June 1935 (obituary); retrieved June 2010. the liquid form of hydrogenation was perfected and patented by

Wilhelm Normann Wilhelm Normann (16 January 1870, in Petershagen – 1 May 1939, in Chemnitz) (sometimes also spelled ''Norman'') was a German chemist who introduced the hydrogenation of fats in 1901, creating what later became known as trans fats. This invent ...

in 1903.Jackson & List (2007)
"Giants of the Past: The Battle Over Hydrogenation (1903–1920)"
''Inform'' 18. Joseph Crosfield and Sons acquired Normann's patent ostensibly for use in the production of soap. Their chief

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe ...

, Edwin C. Kayser, was hired by Procter & Gamble's business manager,

John Burchenal John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

, and they patented two processes to hydrogenate

. Although their initial intent was to completely harden oils for use as raw material for making soap. these processes ensured that the fat would remain solid at normal storage temperatures and could find use in the food industry. After rejecting the names "Krispo" and "Cryst" (the latter for its obvious religious connotations), Procter & Gamble called the product Crisco, a modification of the phrase "crystallized cottonseed oil". They used

advertising techniques Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

that encouraged consumers not to be concerned about ingredients but to trust in a reliable

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create a ...

. Further success came from the marketing technique of giving away free cookbooks in which every recipe called for Crisco. Crisco vegetable oil was introduced in 1960. In 1976, Procter & Gamble introduced sunflower oil under the trade name Puritan Oil, which was marketed as a lower-

cholesterol Cholesterol is any of a class of certain organic molecules called lipids. It is a sterol (or modified steroid), a type of lipid. Cholesterol is biosynthesized by all animal cells and is an essential structural component of animal cell membr ...

alternative. In 1988, Puritan Oil was switched to 100%

canola oil Close-up of canola blooms Canola flower Rapeseed oil is one of the oldest known vegetable oils. There are both edible and industrial forms produced from rapeseed, the seed of several cultivars of the plant family Brassicaceae. Historical ...

. In 2002,

divested the Crisco (oil and shortening) brand, along with Jif peanut butter, in a spinoff to their

stockholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal ow ...

s; the two brands then immediately

merged Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

with the

J. M. Smucker Co. The J.M. Smucker Company, also known as Smuckers, is an American manufacturer of food and beverage products. Headquartered in Orrville, Ohio, the company was founded in 1897 as a maker of apple butter. J.M. Smucker currently has three major busi ...

acquired the Crisco brand in December 2020.

Changes in fat content

In April 2004, Smucker introduced "Crisco Zero Grams

Trans Fat Trans fat, also called trans-unsaturated fatty acids, or trans fatty acids, is a type of unsaturated fat that naturally occurs in small amounts in meat and milk fat. It became widely produced as an unintentional byproduct in the industrial p ...

Per Serving All-Vegetable Shortening", which contained fully hydrogenated palm oil blended with liquid vegetable oils to yield a shortening much like the original Crisco. From January 24, 2007, all Crisco shortening products were reformulated to contain less than one gram of trans fat per serving; the separately marketed trans fat-free version introduced in 2004 was consequently discontinued. , Crisco consists of a blend of

soybean oil Soybean oil (British English: soyabean oil) is a vegetable oil extracted from the seeds of the soybean (''Glycine max''). It is one of the most widely consumed cooking oils and the second most consumed vegetable oil. As a drying oil, processed so ...

, fully hydrogenated

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced fr ...

, and palm oil. According to the product information label, one 12-g serving of Crisco contains 3.5 g of

saturated fat A saturated fat is a type of fat in which the fatty acid chains have all single bonds. A fat known as a glyceride is made of two kinds of smaller molecules: a short glycerol backbone and fatty acids that each contain a long linear or branched ...

, 0 g of trans fat, 6 g of

polyunsaturated fat Polyunsaturated fats are fats in which the constituent hydrocarbon chain possesses two or more carbon–carbon double bonds. Polyunsaturated fat can be found mostly in nuts, seeds, fish, seed oils, and oysters. "Unsaturated" refers to the fact th ...

, and 2.5 g of

monounsaturated fat Monounsaturated fats are fatty acids that have one double bond in the fatty acid chain with all of the remainder carbon atoms being single-bonded. By contrast, polyunsaturated fats have more than one double bond. Molecular description Fatty acid ...

. This reformulated Crisco is claimed to have the same cooking properties and flavor as the original version of the product. According to the FDA, "Food manufacturers are allowed to list amounts of trans fat with less than 0.5 gram (1/2 g) per serving as 0 (zero) on the Nutrition Facts panel." Some nutritionists argue that while the formula has been changed to remove the trans fatty acids, the fully hydrogenated oil used to replace them may not be good for health. Crisco and similar low-trans fat products are formed by the interesterification of a mixture of fully hydrogenated oils and partially hydrogenated oils. The composition of the resultant

triglycerides A triglyceride (TG, triacylglycerol, TAG, or triacylglyceride) is an ester derived from glycerol and three fatty acids (from ''tri-'' and '' glyceride''). Triglycerides are the main constituents of body fat in humans and other vertebrates, as ...

is random, and may contain combinations of fatty acids not commonly found in nature. A recent study showed that interesterified fat increased volunteers'

blood sugar Glycaemia, also known as blood sugar level, blood sugar concentration, or blood glucose level is the measure of glucose concentrated in the blood of humans or other animals. Approximately 4 grams of glucose, a simple sugar, is present in the blo ...

by 20%, while simultaneously lowering the body's HDL cholesterol.

Kream Krisp

While Kayser's patents were filed in 1910 and granted in 1915, Hugh Moore, chief chemist for the Berlin Mills Company in Berlin, New Hampshire, filed his patents by 1914 (granted 1914 and 1916). Berlin Mills's vegetable shortening (later trademarked in 1915 as Kream Krisp) appeared on the market in 1914. Procter & Gamble became aware of the competition by February 1915. Burchenal contacted Berlin Mills claiming that they were infringing on P&G's patents and suggested they meet to discuss the issue. When this approach failed, P&G filed suit against Berlin Mills (see ''Berlin Mills Co. v. Procter & Gamble Co.'', 254 U.S. 156 (1920), also known as ''Procter and Gamble vs. the Brown Company''). Procter and Gamble lost the suit, but they bought Kream Krisp in the mid-1920s.

Notes

References

External links