Imperial isn’t actually butter. It’s a vegetable oil spread made primarily from water and a blend of palm, soybean, and palm kernel oils. At 40 calories per tablespoon compared to 100 calories in real butter, it’s significantly lighter, and it contains no meaningful amount of trans fat. Whether it’s “bad for you” depends on how much you use and what you’re comparing it to.
What’s Actually in Imperial Spread
Water is the first ingredient, which is why Imperial has less than half the calories of dairy butter. The fat comes from a vegetable oil blend of palm, soybean, and palm kernel oils. It also contains salt, emulsifiers to keep the oil and water from separating, preservatives (potassium sorbate and calcium disodium EDTA) to prevent spoilage, natural and artificial flavors, vitamin A, and beta-carotene for color.
Each tablespoon delivers about 4.5 grams of total fat, with 1 gram of saturated fat and 1 gram of monounsaturated fat. For comparison, a tablespoon of real butter contains about 7 grams of saturated fat. That’s a substantial difference if you’re watching your saturated fat intake.
The Trans Fat Question
Older margarine products were notorious for containing trans fats, which came from partially hydrogenated oils used to solidify liquid vegetable oils. This is the main reason margarine earned a bad reputation in the 1990s and 2000s. Trans fats raise LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and lower HDL (“good”) cholesterol simultaneously, making them worse for heart health than even saturated fat.
That’s no longer the case. The FDA banned partially hydrogenated oils from the U.S. food supply, and a 2020 analysis of leading margarine brands published by the National Institutes of Health confirmed that Imperial and similar products contain negligible amounts of trans fat (less than 0.5 grams per tablespoon). If you’ve been avoiding Imperial because of trans fat concerns from years ago, that specific risk has been effectively eliminated.
Palm Oil: The Trade-Off
While Imperial avoids the trans fat problem, its reliance on palm and palm kernel oils introduces a different concern. Palm kernel oil is a tropical oil high in saturated fat. The American Heart Association specifically advises eating foods made with liquid vegetable oils “but not tropical oils.” Palm oil falls into a gray area: it’s less saturated than butter, but more saturated than oils like canola, soybean, or olive oil.
This means Imperial is a step up from butter in terms of saturated fat content, but it’s not the best possible choice if heart health is your primary concern. Spreads made primarily from canola or olive oil would have a more favorable fat profile.
How It Compares to Butter Nutritionally
The calorie difference is the most obvious advantage. At 40 calories per tablespoon versus 100 for standard salted butter, Imperial delivers a meaningful reduction if you use spreads regularly. Over the course of a day, someone who uses three tablespoons on toast and cooking saves about 180 calories by choosing Imperial.
The saturated fat gap is also significant. The AHA recommends limiting saturated fat to less than 6% of total daily calories. On a 2,000-calorie diet, that’s about 13 grams per day. One tablespoon of butter uses up more than half that budget at 7 grams, while Imperial contributes just 1 gram. Imperial also provides 21% of your daily vitamin A per tablespoon, added during manufacturing.
The Preservatives
Potassium sorbate and calcium disodium EDTA are two preservatives in Imperial that occasionally raise questions. Potassium sorbate prevents mold and bacterial growth, while EDTA binds to trace metals in the product that would otherwise cause the oils to go rancid. Both are widely used in processed foods and are considered safe at the levels found in food products by regulatory agencies. They’re not a meaningful health concern at the amounts present in a spread you’re using by the tablespoon.
The Bigger Picture
Imperial spread isn’t health food, but it’s not particularly harmful either. It’s a processed product that delivers fewer calories and less saturated fat than butter, with no significant trans fat. The main nutritional drawback is its use of tropical oils, which puts it in the middle of the pack among spreads.
If you’re choosing between Imperial and butter, Imperial is the lighter option with less saturated fat. If you want the healthiest spread available, look for products made primarily from olive, avocado, or canola oil, which deliver more heart-friendly unsaturated fats. And if you use just a thin scrape on your morning toast, the difference between any of these options is small enough that it probably won’t move the needle on your overall health.