Originally shortening was synonymous with lard, but with the invention of margarine by French chemist Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès in 1869, margarine also came to be included in the term.
Crisco, owned by The J.M. Smucker Company since 2002, remains the best-known brand of shortening in the US, nowadays consisting of a blend of partially and fully hydrogenated soybean and palm oils [REF].