I purchase a local butter which advertises itself as containing “91% butterfat”. It definitely has a fattier taste and mouthfeel than supermarket butter. However, when I read the Nutrition Facts, every butter has the exact same “calories” and “calories from fat” per 1 TBSP. Whether it’s my local butter, some fancy European butter (Plugra, etc.), or Land’O’Lakes, they all have the same amount of fat per TBSP. Or so it seems. What am I missing?
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The amount of aeration achieved by the whipping, I assume.
Wouldn’t that change the amount of calories/fat per TBSP?
the missing bit is the allowable rounding “error” for labels.
one pound of butter with 80% fat (US min) = 12.8 ounces by weight of fat
one pound of butter with 90% fat = 14.4 ounces by weight of fat
convention is eight tablespoons in a stick ie 0.25 pound or 32 tbsp per pound (this is not accurate to the nth degree, but …)
so
for the 80% butter, 12.8 / 32 tbsp per pound is 0.4 ounces of fat per tbsp
for the 90% butter, 14.4 / 32 tbsp per pound is 0.45 ounces of fat per tbsp
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Would you know how much is the allowable rounding error? Is the allowable error also for calories, like it is for weight? How about for the grams amounts listed as Total Fat and then separated into Saturated Fat, etc? Since those are very specific amounts, I assume the error can just be +/- 1g, correct?
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this is from
http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/GuidanceDocumentsRegulatoryInformation/LabelingNutrition/ucm063113.htm
there’s a more recent version but it refuses to come up at the moment.
- Round the values according to FDA rounding rules
The following table provides rounding rules for declaring nutrients on the nutrition label or in labeling:
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the Forum software declines to post a table, instead spattering the info all over the page - so check the link and scroll down.
Thanks, hopefully I can figure it out from here.
Is it Farm Friend?
Yes, the one from Trickling Springs.
I love that butter. I also agree with the others it’s likely a rounding issue but it definitely seems higher fat than other brands. Kerrygold used to be my go to until I found the Farm Friend
Yes, just from tasting it, there’s no question it has more fat and tastes better than other butters. Our little one literally eats it straight out of the container. I wish I was young enough to afford the calories. (Of course, we keep a separate container for everyone else.)
It’s also the only unsalted butter I can buy without lactic acid or “flavors”. First time it took a few days to adjust ourselves, but now I only use the other stuff in recipes. Update: I mean uncultured and unsalted butter.
