BUTTER 



1020 



BUTTER 



Butter is naturally golden-yellow in color, 

 this quality varying with the feed and the 

 breed of the cows. If made in the spring and 

 early summer, when the cows are feeding upon 

 the fresh new grass of the pastures, it is 



butter and is second in the output of creameries 

 and factories; Quebec produces the largest 

 amount of factory and creamery butter. The 

 yearly output of home-made butter in all the 



Russia 

 T=> 166 



COMPOSITION OF BUTTER 



usually darker than when made at other sea- 

 sons, and some artificial butter color is com- 

 monly added so there may be a uniform color 

 throughout the year. Annatto is in general 

 use for the purpose, and turmeric, saffron, mari- 

 gold leaves and carrot juice are also occa- 

 sionally employed. 



Composition. Butter varies in composition 

 with the conditions under which it is made, 

 but the following figures represent an average 

 grade: fat, about 83 per cent; water, 13 per 

 cent; protein, 1.0 per cent; ash, 3.0 per cent. 

 Of these, water is the most variable. Accord- 

 ing to the standard fixed by the United States 

 government, butter should contain not less than 

 82.5 per cent of fat nor more than 16 per cent 

 of water. 



Food Value. Butter is highly nutritious, and 

 is one of the most wholesome and most easily 

 digested of all food fats. About 19.7 per cent 

 of the total fat in the daily food of the average 

 person is furnished by butter. 



Production. For its size, Denmark is the 

 leading butter-making country of the world, 

 and the quality of the Danish product is un- 

 equaled. In quantity the United States is 

 foremost among the butter-making countries, 

 with a total output of nearly 1,700,000,000 

 pounds a year. About 1,000,000,000 pounds are 

 made on the dairy farms, and the remainder 

 in creameries and city dairies. The value of 

 this output is over 405,000,000. The leading 

 butter states are Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, 

 Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan 

 and Ohio. Among the Canadian provinces, 

 Ontario leads in the production of home-made 



Figures Represent Millions of Pounds 



PRINCIPAL, BUTTER-EXPORTING 

 COUNTRIES 



provinces is about 140,000,000 pounds, and of 

 factory and creamery butter, about 65,000,000 

 pounds. The total value is about $46,000,000. 



Adulterants and Imitations. Cottonseed and 

 other oils and various fats have been used as 

 adulterants of butter. The most common 

 manufactured substitute is a fat made of suet, 

 oil, butter, cream and milk, known as oleomar- 

 garine (which see). Renovated or process but- 

 ter is a butter of poor quality from which 

 disagreeable odors and flavors have been re- 

 moved, and to which cream or milk has been 

 added to give it a good appearance. Such a 

 product is much inferior to oleomargarine, and 



A TEST FOR PURITY 

 Explanation appears in the text. 



its sale is strictly regulated by law. In the 



United States all butter of this character must 



be labeled renovated. 



Tests of Purity. If butter does not smell 



