Butter
Butter is dairy fat churned from cream.
- Used in
- Food ingredient
- Role
- Dairy
Also listed as
Contains / relevant to
- Milk & dairy: Relevant to people avoiding milk & dairy. Milk protein and milk-derived ingredients, including whey and casein.
- Lactose: Relevant to people avoiding lactose. Milk sugar, listed separately from milk protein.
- Vegan: Not vegan: IngrediLens flags it as an ingredient of animal origin.
What to look for on labels
- On prepacked food in the EU and UK, milk must be emphasised in the ingredient list (usually in bold), so look for butter in bold or with its source named, for example “butter (milk)”.
- In the US, a major food allergen (milk, egg, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, sesame) must be named in brackets after the ingredient or in a “Contains:” line under the list.
Questions and answers
Is butter dairy?
Yes. IngrediLens treats butter as a milk ingredient, so it flags it for people avoiding milk.
Is butter vegan?
No. Butter is of animal origin, so IngrediLens flags it for a vegan diet.
Related
- GheeGhee is clarified butter: milk fat with the water and most milk solids removed. It still comes from milk.
- Milk fat (butterfat)Milk fat is the fat from milk, also listed as butterfat, butter oil or anhydrous milk fat.
- CreamCream is the fat-rich part of milk, including whipped and soured cream.
- MargarineMargarine is a spread made from vegetable oils; some brands also contain milk ingredients such as whey or…
- Hidden names for milk on food labelsGuide
- Is whey dairy? Whey and casein on labelsGuide
- How to read allergen labels on food (EU, UK and US)Guide
Sources
- EU Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on food information, Annex II (allergens)
- US Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA)
- IngrediLens ingredient database (names, flags and notes shown on this page)
Label information, not medical advice. This page describes how an ingredient is named and labelled and how IngrediLens flags it; it cannot tell you whether a product is safe for you. Always read the label on the product itself and follow the advice of your doctor, allergist or dermatologist. If someone shows signs of anaphylaxis, use their adrenaline auto-injector if they have one and call emergency services.
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