Butter and Butter Products 209be emulsifi ed into the cream for churning or
processed using scraped - surface equipment.
Consideration must be given to the solid fat
contents necessary to deliver plastic proper-
ties over the functional temperature range
from 5 ° C to 20 ° C (41 ° F to 68 ° F); hence,
selection of fractions becomes critical.
There is little information in the open lit-
erature about the manufacture of very - low -
fat products and what combination of
technology and ingredients are needed to
achieve desirable texture, stability, and mouth
feel. Both water - in - oil type and oil - in - water
low - fat spreads are available. Low - and very -
low - fat dairy spreads compete with the
margarine - type range of products rather than
with butter or higher fat dairy spreads; hence
dairy elements within such products have
more to do with fl avor and dairy image and
less with the functional fat component.
However, inclusion of dairy emulsifi ers and
fl avorings such as milk protein introduces
their own problems in the manufacturing
process of spreads. Milk proteins favor oil -
in - water emulsions, encourage formation of
larger water droplets, and reduce the stability
of water - in - oil products under such condi-
tions as are applied during the latter stages of
processing and tub fi lling (Moran 1994 ).
Following the introduction of worldwide
regulations requiring the labeling of the trans
fatty acid content in foods on health grounds,
there is a drive by manufacturers of pro-
cessed foods to reduce or eliminate industrial
trans fatty acids from their products. This has
led to replacement of the blend of hydroge-
nated and semi - hydrogenated vegetable oils
that helped ensure plasticity in many of the
spreadable fat products with ingredients con-
taining no, or only trace amounts, of trans
fatty acids.
One option is to blend liquid vegetable
oils and butter with natural hard fats in pro-
portions that vary with the fatty acid compo-
sition of winter (hard) and summer (soft)
milk fat to ensure the fi nal product has suf-
fi cient solid fat content for good body at72% with a signifi cant proportion of milk fat
present (Clover) to as low as 19% (St. Ivel
Gold range) and containing dairy ingredients
but no milk fat. Clover (72% fat) is a mixed
fat product that is produced using churn tech-
nology. It is comprised of vegetable oils, but-
termilk (29%), water, skim milk, cream, salt,
emulsifi er, fl avorings, vitamins A and D, and
color. Approximately 50% of milk fat in
Clover is replaced by vegetable oil, which
necessitates the inclusion of some form of
hard fat to provide a solid base that improves
product body and reduces oiling off at room
temperature. Clover has a slightly higher
moisture content than butter, 20% compared
to less than 16% for butter, and to aid disper-
sal of the moisture an emulsifi er is added to
the vegetable oil/buttermilk mixture.
In contrast, St Ivel Gold Extra Light plus
Omega 3 (19% fat) is an example of the new
generation of very - low - fat spreads designed
to appeal to health conscious consumers. Its
low fat content of just 19% fat attracts
calorie - aware consumers, yet by enriching
the spread with long - chain omega - 3 fatty
acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) C20 : 5,
and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) C22 : 6, it
may also have a serious health role to help
consumers increase their daily intake of these
essential fatty acids, as recommended by
various medical and health bodies. The
aqueous phase in low - fat spreads is very
important. In the St. Ivel product the aqueous
phase is based on skim milk, buttermilk, and
modifi ed starch, and it is likely that interac-
tions between the starch and protein ingredi-
ents in the blend are responsible for emulsion
stability and viscosity. Other products have
employed blends of maltodextrin and gela-
tine to similar effect. The amount and nature
of structuring agent in the aqueous phase is
critical, not only because of stability of the
emulsion and viscosity but also because of
effects on organoleptic properties.
Milk fat fractions are valuable ingredients
in dairy spreads of varying fat content as an
alternative to whole butter. The fractions may