1.

0 Butter versus Margarine

1.1 Salted and Unsalted Butter Brands

Butter means the fatty product derived exclusively from the milk of cow or buffalo or its
products principally in the form of water-in-oil type of an emulsion. The nutrition
information on food label enables the comparison of the nutritional content among different
brands of similar food and find out which ones are higher or lower in certain nutrients,
thereby guiding choice of food. We compare the nutritional content of different brands of a
similar product based on per 100g. Below are the table of different brands of salted and
unsalted butter:

No. Product name Net Price Total Salt Saturated

weight (RM) fat (mg) fat (g)
(g) (g)
1. Anchor salted pure 227 RM11.15 81.4 600 49.1
2. Emborg salted butter 200 RM11.35 81 1400 49.1
3. SCS salted pure creamery 250 RM15.30 81 695 55.1
butter
4. Lurpak slightly salted butter 200 RM14.49 82 480 52
5. Golden churn pure 250 RM19.90 81 695 55.1
creamery butter salted
6. Tatura choice salted grade 250 RM11.73 81.5 715 57.1
butter
7. Westgold new Zealand 250 RM12.62 81.5 480 53
salted butter
8. President ambassador 200 RM6.21 80 2500 74
salted butter
9. Kerrygold salted butter 227 RM16.00 80 1800 53
10. Arla salted butter 200 RM12.10 82 470 52

No. Product name Net Price Total Saturated fat

weight (RM) fat (g)
(g) (g)
1. Anchor Unsalted Pure New 227 RM12.40 82.9 50
Zealand
2. Lurpak Unsalted Danish 200 RM13.99 82 53
Butter
3. Emborg Unsalted Butter 200 RM10.90 82 58
4. Arla butter unsalted 200 RM12.29 82 53
5. Kerrygold Unsalted Butter 227 RM16.00 82 54
 Total fat(g) in different brands of salted butter
TOTAL FAT (g)
82 82
81.5 81.5 81.4
81 81 81

80 80

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From the chart above, salted butter brand with the highest total fat content is Arla and
Lurpak with both owned 82g respectively. Meanwhile for the lowest total fat content (80g)
owned by President and Kerrygold. From all the salted butter brands, we can see that the
average amount of total fat approximately per 100g of salted butter is 81.14g. It is because
according to official regulations, pure butter contains at least 82% fat and at most, 16% water.
In general, one tablespoon (14g) of butter contains over 100 calories and 11 g of fats, which
is similar to 1 medium-sized banana. Food and Drug Administration recommends no more
than 300mg of cholesterol intake every day. Butter has approximately 33mg cholesterol in
one tablespoon. Due to its high caloric value, intake of butter should be controlled and eaten
in moderation. From here, Kerrygold and President brands may be the healthiest choice of
salted butter with the lowest content of total fat.

Salt (mg) content in different brands of salted butter

SALT (mg)
2500
1800
1400
715 695 695 600 480 480 470

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The National Dairy Council (NDC) says that generally salted butter contains 1.6-1.7%
salt. The NDC says the salt in addition to giving a saltier taste, it is actually acts as a
preservative and prolongs the shelf life of the butter. Based on the chart above, the President
salted butter brand has the highest salt content with 2500 mg. There was no difference
between SCS and Golden churn brand for the salt content as both recorded 695 mg
respectively. This also can be seen on between the Lurpak and Westgold brand for their salt
content at 480 mg respectively. However, all of them were significantly higher than Arla
brand which is at the lowest place with 470 mg of salt. In general, one tablespoon of salted
butter contains range from 50 to 100 mg of sodium. The American Heart Association
recommends limiting daily sodium intake no more than 1500 mg. Excessive intake of sodium
may increase the blood pressure. Due to that reason, it is important to check the nutrition
label and choose the right brand with the least amount of salt. If you need to watch your
sodium intake per daily so from here the safest choice is salted butter from Arla brand.

Saturated fat(g) in different brands of salted butter

SATURATED FAT (g)
74
57.1 55.1 55.1 53 53 52 52 49.1 49.1

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Saturated fat is known to be the highest ingredient compare to the other type of fats in
butter product. From the chart above, President salted butter brand is the highest compared to
other brands with 74 g saturated fat. The second highest is from Tatura brand at 57.1g
followed with SCS and Golden churn with both recorded 55.1 g respectively. Meanwhile,
53g of saturated fat owned together by Westgold and Kerrygold brand. Lurpak and Arla
brands shared the same amount of saturated fat in their butter product at 52g. Meanwhile,
Emborg and Anchor, both shared the lowest position with 49.1 g of saturated fat in their
salted butter product. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommend that anyone who
is aiming to lower their LDL cholesterol should get no more than 5% to 6% of their total
calorie intake from saturated fat. On a 2,000 calorie diet, this equates to 11–13 g of saturated
fat per day. Therefore, two tablespoons of butter provide more saturated fat than most people
should be consuming daily. However, a review of papers from 2014 suggests that there may
not be a strong link between a person’s consumption of saturated fats and their risk of heart
disease or stroke. Despite this, the AHA still recommend that people with high cholesterol
should monitor their consumption of butter.

Based on our reviews on total fat, salt and saturated fat content of 10 different brands
of salted butter indicate that the healthiest choices are Anchor, Arla and Lurpak brand. Three
of them placed top five with the least amount of salt and saturated fat content. It is significant
to choose the right brand when monitoring sodium and saturated fat intake as both of them
are one of the causes in the rising risk factor of coronary heart disease. Even though salted
butter from Arla brand is the highest in total fat but it also has the lowest in salt content. As
we know, total fat stated in nutrition label also include the ‘good’ fat which are
polyunsaturated fat and monounsaturated fat. President brand is not chosen even has the
lowest total fat because that brand has won first place for the highest salt and saturated fat
content. In my opinion, high salt content may be needed to increase the savoury taste. In
conclusion, the best brand of salted butter is Anchor as it contains the average amount of total
fat and has the lowest for salt and saturated fat content.

Total fat(g) in different brands of unsalted butter

TOTAL FAT (g)
82.9

82 82 82 82

Anchor Lurpak Arla Kerrygold Emborg

From the chart above, it shows that four from five different brands of unsalted butter
shared similar amount of total fat at 82g meanwhile the Anchor brand placed first with
slightly higher total fat at 82.9g.

Saturated fat(g) in different brands of unsalted butter

SATURATED FAT
58

54
53 53

50

Emborg Kerrygold Arla Lurpak Anchor

Based on the chart above, it shows the saturated fat in all of five unsalted butter
brands are varied. The highest saturated fat content owned by Emborg brand with 58g,
followed with the second highest is Kerrygold brand with 54g. Arla and Lurpak brand shared
the similar position as both of them have 53g of saturated fat respectively. With 50g, Anchor
brand has the least amount of saturated fat and placed at the lowest position.

From here we found that the healthiest unsalted butter brand is Anchor because has
the lowest saturated fat content although its total fat content is slightly higher compared to
other brands.

The daily serving of butter can have a place in your diet if you are the cake lover.
However, you will need to improve the nutritional value by choosing the unsalted butter. This
is because a tablespoon of unsalted butter contains just 2 mg of sodium. Reduce your
serving size to 1 teaspoon of unsalted butter and will consume less saturated fat too. One
teaspoon of unsalted butter has 3.8 g of fat, of which 2.4 g are saturated. Butter calories do
not change depending on the salt content but reducing the amount of salt in diet is
important for people who monitor their sodium intake daily. The benefit of choosing
unsalted butter is can control the exact amount of salt added to the cakes or cookies. You
may increase the salt in the recipe by using general rule which is 1/4 teaspoon of salt for
every 1/2 cup of butter. Furthermore, unsalted butter is fresher.