Originally shortening was synonymous with
lard, but with the invention of
margarine from beef
tallow by French
chemist Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès in 1869, margarine also came to be included in the term. Since the invention of
hydrogenated vegetable oil in the early 20th century, "shortening" has come almost exclusively to mean hydrogenated
vegetable oil.
Hydrogenation of organic substances was first developed by the French
chemist Paul Sabatier in 1897, and in 1901 the German chemist
Wilhelm Normann developed the hydrogenation of fats, which he patented in 1902. In 1907, a German chemist,
Edwin Cuno Kayser, moved to
Cincinnati, Ohio, the home town of
soap manufacturer
Procter & Gamble. He had worked for British soap manufacturer
Joseph Crosfield and Sons and was well acquainted with Normann's process, as Crosfield and Sons owned the British rights to Normann's patent. Later in 1909, Procter & Gamble hired McCaw and purchased his patents along with the patents of other scientists working on partial hydrogenation which later helped in the development of "shortening". Since the product looked like
lard, Procter & Gamble instead began selling it as a vegetable fat for cooking purposes in June 1911, calling it "
Crisco", a modification of the phrase "crystallized cottonseed oil". With these advantages, plus an intensive advertisement campaign by Procter & Gamble, Crisco quickly gained popularity in American households. Procter & Gamble also advertised how economical it was to use shortening, often advertising cheap recipes incorporating shortening to appeal to frugal mothers. As food production became increasingly industrialized and manufacturers sought low-cost raw materials, the use of vegetable shortening also became common in the food industry. In addition, in the US, government-financed surpluses of cottonseed oil,
corn oil, and
soybeans also helped lower the cost of vegetable shortening. In the late 1990s, vegetable shortening became the subject of some health concerns due to
partially hydrogenated vegetable oils containing
trans fats, a type found only in small amounts in milk and some other natural foods. Trans fats have been linked to
coronary artery disease and
other adverse health effects. Beginning in 2004, the US shortening brand
Crisco was first reformulated to contain less than one gram of trans fat per serving, and then, after the US FDA issued a 2018 ban on
partially hydrogenated oils, to a trans-fat-free vegetable shortening made from fully hydrogenated
palm oil and some soybean oils to improve the texture. Use of palm oil is controversial due to the environmental impact of commercial palm oil production, which is increased by clearing
rainforests. In 2006, UK brand Cookeen was also reformulated to remove trans fats. In the UK, Trex (
Rapeseed oil and
palm oil) is the main one, while in Australia,
Copha is popular, made primarily from
coconut oil. ==Shortened dough==