FAT RICH DAIRY PRODUCTS

Module 6. Regulatory aspects of butter

Lesson 16
FSSAI DEFINITION, BIS SPECIFICATIONS AND CODEX REQUIREMENTS

16.1 Introduction

Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying. Butter is a water-in-oil emulsion resulting from an inversion of the cream, an oil-in-water emulsion; the milk proteins are the emulsifiers. Butter remains a solid when refrigerated, but softens to a spreadable consistency at room temperature, and melts to a thin liquid consistency at 32–35°C.

It generally has a pale yellow color, but varies from deep yellow to nearly white. Its unmodified color is dependent on the animals' feed and is commonly manipulated with food colorings in the commercial manufacturing process, most commonly annatto or carotene.

16.2 Definition

Butter may be defined as a fat concentrate, obtained by churning cream, gathering the fat into compact mass and then working it. As per FSSAI (2011), Butter means the fatty product derived exclusively from milk of cow and/or buffalo or its products principally in the form of water-in-oil type of an emulsion. The product may be with or without added common salt and starter cultures of harmless lactic acid and/or flavour producing bacteria. Table butter shall be obtained from pasteurised milk and/or other milk products which have undergone adequate heat treatment to ensure microbial safety. It shall be free from animal body fat, vegetable oil and fat, mineral oil and added flavour. It shall have pleasant taste and flavour free from off flavour and rancidity. It may contain food additives permitted in these Regulations (Table 2). It shall conform to the microbiological requirements of the regulation (Table 3).

It shall conform to the requirements presented in Table 1.

Table 16.1 FSSAI standards for butter

Product	Moisture	Milk Fat	Milk solids not fat	Common salt
Table Butter	16.0% (w/w, max.)	80.0% (w/w, min.)	1.5% (w/w, max.)	3.0% (w/w, max.)
Desi/cooking butter	---	76.0% (w/w, min.)	---	----

Note: Where butter is sold or offered for sale without any indication as to whether it is table or desi butter, the standards of table butter shall apply.

Table 16.2 Permitted food additives in butter as per FSSR

Additive	Quantity
Colors (natural: singly or in combination)
Curcumin	100 ppm max.
Beta carotene	100 ppm max.
Carotene (Natural extract)	100 ppm max.
Annatto extract on Bixin/ Nor bixin basis (50:50 ratio)	20 ppm max.
Beta apo-8 carotenal	35 ppm max.
Methyl ester of Beta apo-8 Carotenoic acid	35 ppm max.
Acidity regulaotrs
Sodium and Calcium hydroxide	2000 ppm max.

Table 16.3 Microbiological requirements of pasteurized butter (FSSAI, 2011)

Microbiological parameter	Sampling Plan	Count
Total Plate Count	m	10,000/g
	M	50, 000/g
Coliform Count	m	10/g
	M	50/g
E.Coli	M	Absent/g
Salmonella	M	Absent/25g
Staphylococcus aureus	m	10/g
	M	50/g
Yeast and mold count	m	20/g
	M	50/g
Listeria monocytogenes	M	Absent/g

Note: m, M denotes standard sampling procedure as given by FSSAI, 2011
Table 16.4 BIS standards for pasteurized butter

Characteristic	Table Butter	White Butter
Milk fat, percent by mass, Min	80.0	82.0
Moisture, percent by mass, Max	16.0	16.0
Acidity (as lactic acid), percent by mass, max.	0.15	0.06
Curd, percent by mass, Max.	1.0	1.5
Common salt, percent by mass, Max.	2.5	----
Coliform count, per ml, Max	5	5
Total yeast and mould count, per ml, Max	20	20

16.3 Codex Standards of Butter

Definition: As per Codex, Butter is a fatty product derived exclusively from milk and/or products obtained from milk, principally in the form of an emulsion of the type water-in-oil.

Essential Composition and Quality Factors

Raw materials: Butter should be made from milk and/or products obtained from milk.

Permitted ingredients

* Sodium chloride and food grade salt

* Starter cultures of harmless lactic acid and/or flavour producing bacteria

* Potable water.

Composition

Minimum milk fat content 80% m/m
Maximum water content 16% m/m
Maximum milk solids-not-fat content 2% m/m
The products should comply with any microbiological criteria established in accordance with the Principles for the Establishment and Application of Microbiological Criteria for Foods (CAC/GL 21-1997).