Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.
- Live Science - Butter May Not Be Bad for Your Heart
- IOPscience - IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science - Evaluation of the quality and safety of butter with an antioxidant complex of natural origin (birch bark extract and Aloe Vera) (PDF)
- MedicineNet - What is Margarine Really Made of? How is it Different From Butter?
- NPR - Spread The Word: Butter Has An Epic Backstory
- Cleveland Clinic - Margarine or Butter: The Heart-Healthiest Spreads
- National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Is Butter Back? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Butter Consumption and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes, and Total Mortality
- WebMD - Butter: Are There Health Benefits?
- University of Guelph Open Books - Dairy Science and Technology eBook - Butter Manufacture
- The Spruce Eats - What Is Butter?
- Healthline - Butter 101: Nutrition facts and health benefits
- BMC - Lipids in Health and Disease - Molecular effects of the consumption of margarine and butter varying in trans fat composition: a parallel human intervention study
- The Pharma Innovation Journal - Potential sources of butter and their significance: A review (PDF)
- Oklahoma State University Extension - Butter: Chemical and Physical Properties and Health Effects (PDF)
butter
News•
butter, a yellow-to-white solidemulsion offat globules, water, and inorganic salts produced bychurning thecream fromcows’milk. Butter has long been used as a spread and as acooking fat. It is an importantedible fat in northernEurope,North America, and other places wherecattle are the primary dairy animals. In all, about a third of the world’s milk production is devoted to making butter.
Butter is one of the most highly concentrated forms of fluid milk. Twenty litres of whole milk are needed to produce one kilogram of butter. This process leaves approximately 18 litres of skim milk andbuttermilk. Butter is a high-energyfood, containing approximately 715 calories per 100 grams. It has a high content ofbutterfat, or milk fat (at least 80 percent), but is low inprotein. Butter has substantial amounts ofvitamin A and minor amounts ofcalcium,phosphorus, andvitamin D.
The colour of butter is caused bycarotene and other fat-soluble pigments in the fat. In theUnited States vegetable colour can be added to commercial butter in order to improve yellowness. Whipped butter, made by whipping air ornitrogen gas into soft butter, is intended to spread more easily atrefrigeration temperatures. Unsalted butter is often referred to as “sweet” butter. This should not be confused with“sweet cream” butter, which may or may not be salted. Reduced-fat, or “light,” butter usually contains about 40 percent milk fat.
The origin of butter is unknown, but presumably it dates back to the prehistoric stages ofanimal husbandry. With the advent of thecream separator in the late 19th century, the manufacture of butter moved from the farm to the factory. Continuous butter making, introduced afterWorld War II, increased theefficiency and output of butter manufacture. There are two methods of continuous butter making: one involving the accelerated churning of normal cream and the other the utilization of reseparated high-fat cream. Well-made butter should be uniformly firm, waxy, and easy to slice and spread.