Clarified butter is a cheap industrial fat, which is used to lower the costs. It is much cheaper than high quality cocoa butter! Find out why we do not use it in our production.
A variety of ingredients are involved in the complex process of chocolate production. Cocoa bean, cane sugar or clarified butter – the ingredient list of different chocolate bars varies widely. In the following blogpost we want to talk about the topic “clarified butter” and provide a lot of interesting information about the origin, the manufacturing process and the use of clarified butter in the chocolate industry. We will then explain in detail why we have deliberately decided not to use clarified butter.
Clarified butter – What is it anyway?
Especially the vegans among you will know the question “Is clarified butter vegan?” has to be answered with a clear no. Most chocolates do not contain animal products such as milk powder, but clarified butter is often found on the list of ingredients.
Clarified butter is extremely heatable, which is why it is often used for frying, baking and deep-frying. But be aware that clarified butter is a fat with a high content of saturated fatty acids. As a result, clarified butter – like other animal fats – is one of the fats proven to contribute to obesity, cardiovascular disease and arteriosclerosis.
Cultivation, extraction and retail of clarified butter
Cooperation with the agricultural sector is essential in the production of clarified butter, as the basic ingredient is either fresh cream or butter. The question as to whether clarified butter contains lactose must therefore be answered with a yes.
In order to turn cream or butter into the popular butterfat, it undergoes an industrial process. Clarified butter is a technically produced, pure fat made from cream or butter. To obtain pure butterfat as the end product, proteins, water and other ingredients are removed from the cream or butter.
In retail, clarified butter can be found in foods such as chocolate or cookies and is very popular due to its low purchase price.
Clarified butter in the processing of chocolate
Whether in discounter chocolate or cookies – the cheap industrial fat is used without batting an eye to stretch products. After all, high-quality cocoa butter is much more expensive.
Pure butterfat is by no means a must in chocolate production. Retailers could easily do without it and use more high-quality cocoa butter instead. However, the only reason this is not done is for economic reasons.
Why is fairafric not using clarified butter?
You will not notice any clarified butter on the list of ingredients in any of our products. This is because we intentionally avoid adding butterfat to our products, as quality and health are our top priorities.
fairafric only uses high quality cocoa butter, which is significantly higher in quality compared to clarified butter.
Another reason why we deliberately speak out against clarified butter is due to the circumstances of its pricing. Conventional agriculture leads to overproduction of milk (and other animal products), which are subsidized by the state on a large scale. This circumstance allows the industry to produce a cheap product from milk surplus. In our opinion, this has nothing to do with sustainable consumer behavior.
Summary
Clarified butter is a cheap industrial fat used to reduce costs. It is significantly cheaper than high-quality cocoa butter, which is why it is used to stretch it. A process which is mainly used in discount chocolate.
This is a conscious decision of the manufacturers to save costs. Our decision – to avoid this cheap industrial fat – is also a conscious positioning. Because besides the social component, our chocolates should contain only the highest quality ingredients. At fairafric, you can expect 100% cocoa butter – without any additives.
