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[RealFood=Reporter Yuk Sung-yeon] \u201cIt says \u2018milk butter\u2019 \u2014 isn\u2019t this natural butter?\u201d<\/p>\n [RealFood=Reporter Yuk Sung-yeon] \u201cIt says \u2018milk butter\u2019 \u2014 isn\u2019t this natural butter?\u201d<\/p>\n
A woman in her 30s, identified as Gu, said she didn\u2019t realize the butter she bought at a convenience store was processed butter. \u201cI bought it to avoid margarine \u2014 I dislike palm oil and additives \u2014 but it turned out to be processed butter,\u201d she complained.<\/p>\n
Butter might seem like one straightforward food, but it\u2019s divided into \u201cnatural butter\u201d and \u201cprocessed butter.\u201d Both can be labeled simply as \u201cbutter,\u201d which tricks some shoppers into thinking they\u2019re buying the natural kind.<\/p>\n
Butter is a dairy product made by separating milk fat from raw milk or other milk products, or by fermenting them. Processed butter is what you get when manufacturers add other foods or food additives to that butter. In plain terms, the butter most people picture is a single-ingredient product made only from milk. Processed butter is a blended product that mixes butter with vegetable fats and additives.<\/p>\n
If the food type is listed as \u201cbutter,\u201d the ingredient list is usually short \u2014 cream, salt, cultures, and so on. Processed butter, by contrast, includes a wider range of ingredients beyond milk fat, such as palm oil, hydrogenated oils, preservatives, and emulsifiers. <\/p>\n
The biggest difference is milk-fat content. Under South Korea\u2019s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) food code, butter must contain at least 80% milk fat. Processed butter contains 30% or more. That higher milk-fat content is what gives natural butter its rich, characteristic flavor.<\/p>\n
Processed butter\u2019s advantages are lower cost, a longer shelf life thanks to additives, and a texture that stays soft and spreadable straight from the fridge.<\/p>\n
If you want to avoid additives or savor real butter flavor, choose natural butter over processed. The problem is that telling them apart isn\u2019t always easy. Current rules allow processed butter to be labeled simply as \u201cbutter.\u201d Names like \u201cmilk butter\u201d or \u201csavory butter\u201d without a clear \u201cprocessed butter\u201d tag can confuse consumers.<\/p>\n
To be sure, don\u2019t trust the product name \u2014 check the \u201cfood type\u201d listed on the back or bottom of the package. That line will tell you whether it\u2019s natural butter or processed butter. The food code requires this label, but it\u2019s often printed in very small type and can be hard to spot.<\/p>\n
If a product is processed butter, study the nutrition facts. Under an MFDS revision being rolled out this year, butter must include nutrition labeling. Labels will show calories, sodium, sugars, fat, protein, and other nutrients. The MFDS expanded mandatory nutrition labeling from the previous 182 items to 259 processed foods, now including butter and processed butter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Many consumers confuse natural butter with processed butter, not realizing the differences in ingredients and processing methods.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/cdn-union.tenbizt.com\/contents\/crawler-dev\/thumbnail\/2026\/05\/CP-2023-0077\/thumb-979e14ea-ed40-41fd-8027-fa8e7be1fef6.jpg","footnotes":""},"categories":[278098],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-261450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food"],"yoast_head":"\n