Post by robeiae on Feb 25, 2021 9:01:16 GMT -5
Buttergate: Why are Canadians complaining about hard butter?
Science, bitches:
When will Trudeau step up and address this crisis?!?!?
Something is amiss with Canadian butter, according to local foodies, who have been arguing for weeks that their blocks are harder to spread than usual.
These so-called "buttergate" anecdotes have been spreading online, with many Canadians complaining that their butter does not soften at room temperature.
Food experts have churned up palm fat in cow feed as a likely culprit.
The dairy industry insists the claims are unfounded, but has created a working group to seek answers.
These so-called "buttergate" anecdotes have been spreading online, with many Canadians complaining that their butter does not soften at room temperature.
Food experts have churned up palm fat in cow feed as a likely culprit.
The dairy industry insists the claims are unfounded, but has created a working group to seek answers.
Adding palm oil-based energy supplements to cow feed is a decades-old practice said to increase the milk output of cows and increase the milk's fat content.
Since the summer, hundreds of farmers around the country have stepped up their use of palm oil substances in an attempt to boost supply.
Canada's Dairy Processors Association told Real Agriculture there have been no changes to butter production itself nor national ingredient regulations.
Little research has been done on the true impact of palm oil in dairy, but agricultural experts say butter made from cows fed with palm oil has a higher melting point and, therefore, may be harder to spread at room temperature.
"A Buttergate is not what the industry needs, or what Canadians deserve," wrote Sylvain Charlebois, senior director at Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab, in a widely published opinion piece this week that argues most of the country's butter has definitely gotten harder.
Since the summer, hundreds of farmers around the country have stepped up their use of palm oil substances in an attempt to boost supply.
Canada's Dairy Processors Association told Real Agriculture there have been no changes to butter production itself nor national ingredient regulations.
Little research has been done on the true impact of palm oil in dairy, but agricultural experts say butter made from cows fed with palm oil has a higher melting point and, therefore, may be harder to spread at room temperature.
"A Buttergate is not what the industry needs, or what Canadians deserve," wrote Sylvain Charlebois, senior director at Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab, in a widely published opinion piece this week that argues most of the country's butter has definitely gotten harder.