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Missouri lawmaker can't believe margarine is not legal

Possession of margarine in Missouri is punishable by a $100 fine and a month's imprisonment.

By AP/KWMU

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kwmu/local-kwmu-807057.mp3

St. Louis – A Missouri state lawmaker wants to decriminalize margarine. House member Sara Lampe said Tuesday that she plans to file legislation repealing Missouri's butter law of 1895.

The measure restricts the sale, possession or shipment of imitation butter and bans yellow-tinted varieties.

Those dealing contraband dairy products can be fined up to $100 and jailed for up to a month.

Lampe, a Springfield Democrat, said the law doesn't make sense anymore.

Enforcement is up to the state Department of Agriculture. And spokeswoman Misti Preston said the butter laws are no longer enforced.

Preston said the regulations were probably created to protect Missouri's dairy industry.

Read Missouri's "butter law" here.

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