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Butter

What is Butter?

Butter is a dairy product made from churning milk and/or cream. It is regularly used as a spread or for baked goods. [1]

Butter Grades (USDA Grades) [2]

U.S. Grade AA

  1. Delicate, sweet flavor, with a fine, highly pleasing aroma
  2. Made from high-quality fresh, sweet cream
  3. Smooth, creamy texture with good "spreadability"
  4. May possess a slight feed and a definite cooked flavor.

U.S. Grade A

  1. Pleasing flavor
  2. Made from fresh cream
  3. Fairly smooth texture
  4. Rates close to top grade
  5. May possess any of the following flavors to a slight degree: Acid, aged, bitter, coarse, flat, smothered, and storage.
  6. May possess feed flavor to a definite degree.

U.S. Grade B

  1. May have slightly acid flavor
  2. Readily acceptable to many consumers
  3. May possess any of the following flavors to a slight degree: Malty, musty, neutralizer, scorched, utensil, weed, and whey.
  4. May possess any of the following flavors to a definite degree: Acid, aged, bitter, smothered, storage, and old cream; feed flavor to a pronounced degree.


History

Since even accidental agitation can turn cream into butter, it is likely that the invention of butter goes back to the earliest days of dairying, perhaps in the Mesopotamian area between 9000 and 8000 BCE. The earliest butter would have been from sheep or goat's milk; cattle are not thought to have been domesticated for another thousand years or so. An ancient method of butter making, still used today in some parts of Africa and the Near East, is shown in the photo at left, taken in Palestine. A goat skin is half filled with milk, then inflated with air and sealed. It is then hung with ropes on a tripod of sticks and rocked to and fro until the butter is formed. [1]

Other Ingredient Information

Products containing Butter


The percentage represents the approximate total number of food products from UPC Food Search's data that contain the ingredient, "Butter".
The data is calculated from UPC Food Search's product data only, and is not meant to reflect all food products regionally or globally.

Source(s) Derived From

 Animal Sources

Butter is made from milk. [1]

Natural or Artificial?

 Natural

References
  1. Butter - Wikipedia
  2. USDA Butter Grades

Aliases (Also Known As)


 Butter Esters
Butter Powder
Butter Solids
Cultured Sweet Cream Butter
Dairy Butter
Dehydrated Butter
Dried Butter
Extractives Of Butter
Grade AA Butter
Salted Butter
Unsalted Butter

Color Key - (Click/Tap to View) Dash

  • Natural
  • Natural & Possibly Unsafe
  • Artificial
  • Artificial & Possibly Unsafe
  • Both (Can be derived from Natural & Artificial Sources)
  • Both (Can be derived from Natural & Artificial Sources) & Possibly Unsafe

Revision History

Action User Date/Time
Ingredient addedUPC Food SearchJanuary 1, 2009 @ 2:14 AM

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