Hardly any product exudes such a seductive scent as butter. When it melts in the pan and glazes onions and butter in it or in the oven when the smell of cake wafts through the apartment. But fewer and fewer people can still afford the butter on their bread. Between autumn 2021 and 2022 alone, the price of butter rose higher than ever before. By 72 percent. Half of the products even cost more than three euros. A good reason to take a look behind the scenes. Is the butter really worth the price?
No, as “Ökotest” finds out. Of the 20 products in the test, 17 received the rating “poor” or “unsatisfactory”. Including five with an organic seal, but also branded products such as Kerrygold (3.49 euros per 250 grams) or Weihenstephan (3.49 euros). Why is it?
The main reason is mineral oil. Saturated mineral oil hydrocarbons (MOSH) are found in 19 out of 20 products, which the testers classify as “strongly increased”. These residues accumulate in human fatty tissue, but also in lymph nodes or organs such as the liver, spleen and lungs. They don’t have a direct toxic effect. But “Ökotest” points out that the data situation is very sparse so far and the long-term effects are not yet known.
The ÖMA Allgäu farmer’s butter sour cream (3.36 euros) is particularly negative: it is so heavily contaminated with mineral oil residues that “Ökotest” has never seen such a value before. In addition, the butter also has the maximum content of aromatic mineral oil hydrocarbons (MOAH), which are viewed particularly critically because some compounds in the group of substances can be carcinogenic.
The testers can only recommend one butter: the organic barrel butter from the Gläserne Molkerei, which costs 3.49 euros per 250 grams, but is the only product that received the grade “good”.
You can read the whole test here for a fee!
