Hard truth? Palm oil may be cause for stiffer Canadian butter, says food researcher

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Canadians have been vocal on social media saying they have noticed butter is much more difficult to melt.

As people are stuck in their homes and have resorted to baking as a pandemic hobby – melting butter has proven to be more difficult. Now, a food researcher is saying palmitic acid, a palm oil derivative, may be the culprit behind harder-than-usual butter.

Sylvain Charlebois, a food researcher and professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax, says the use of palm oil increases the content of saturated fat in butter, making the product not melt as easily.

Is it me or is #butter much harder now at room temperature?

— The Food Professor (@FoodProfessor) December 29, 2020

Charlebois had been hearing from other experts in the food industry that organic butter is less stiff and much easier to spread, so he decided to put this hypothesis to the test.

Charlebois and his wife did a ‘toast test’ comparing organic and regular butter making two slices of toast and spreading each with the distinct kind of butter. He says there was a very clear difference and the organic butter was significantly easier to spread.

“The difference was absolutely stunning. One melted, one didn’t. The colour was different, a lot of things were different for sure. In organic dairy, you are not allowed to use palmitic acid,” he explains.

Charlebois notes than in late October, a memo from BC’s Dairy Board pointed to palmitic acid as the possible culprit after speaking with people in the dairy sector.

Quebec became the first province Wednesday to ban the usage of palmitic acid in dairy products and Charlebois hopes other provinces will follow suit.

He says palmitic acid in dairy products has been an issue for a while, but got worse last year when demand for butter was at an all time high – more demand led to the usage of palmitic acid.

“The quick way to do it is alter the feed given to animals, including adding a supplement like palmitic acid. It made a lot of Canadians upset as soon as you use something like palm oil, it doesn’t feel natural or sustainable,” says Charlebois.

Sylvain Charlebois, food researcher and professor at Dalhousie, says palm oil may be the culprit behind the harder than usual butter texture. @NEWS1130

— Yasmin Gandham (@YasminGandham) February 25, 2021

Charlebois explains that the issue goes beyond just the texture of butter but expands to farm laws and the food industry at large.

“To actually ban the practice and replace palmitic acid with something else would actually increase the cost of productions to compensate farmers properly – things will get adjusted along the chain. That is why we have supply management.”

Charlebois goes on to say that especially during the pandemic, the demand for high quality and ethically made products has gone up. Consumers are more concerned with what ingredients are in their food products, something that should be prioritized in the food industry.

“Dairy is not like Nutella or crackers. There is a social contract that needs to be fostered between the industry and Canadians and I think that social contract was breached at least from a consumer’s perspective.”

Charlebois hopes that rather than this being a provincial decision, the Federal government steps in to ensure that the practice is banned throughout the country. He says that in order to deliver high quality products, we need to “go back to basics.”