WASHINGTON, March 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau: SUNDAY, MARCH 16: MARGARINE Profile America -- Sunday, March 16th. Today, we take for granted seeing butter and margarine side by side on supermarket shelves. But for a century, a fierce battle was fought between those backing each of the spreads. On this date in 1950, much of the battle was over, as Congress ended a special tax on margarine. For many decades it was against the law to sell margarine colored to look like butter, so manufacturers provided packets of powdered dye that consumers could mash into the margarine with a fork or capsules of dye inside a bag of margarine that could be kneaded to add color. Now in the U.S., Americans eat an average of just over 4 pounds of butter a year and 4 pounds of margarine. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau on the Web at http://www.census.gov/.
Profile America is produced by the Public Information Office of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments ready to air on a monthly CD or on Internet at http://www.census.gov/ (look under the "Newsroom" button). For further information, contact Rick Reed at +1-301-763-2812, fax at +1-301-457-3670, or e-mail at rreed(At)census.gov. DATASOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau CONTACT: Rick Reed of the U.S. Census Bureau, +1-301-763-2812 Web Site: http://www.census.gov/
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