In reply to:


In looking around for this, I've found Anchor Spreadable Butter, but it claims to be softened with canola oil, not water. The other spreadable butters I've found seem to be the same



Thats the "export" product you're seeing there on the Anchor.co.nz webpage.
They use Canola as they its trendy/fashionable to put "canola oil" in stuff as Canola is Monounsatured (like Olive Oil) but doesn't have that strong Olive Oil flavour) that would ruin the butter taste. Plus Canola help extend the shelf life of the product I think - not sure on this point. But given that most butter sold under the Anchor brand is shipped via containers (so-called "cooltainers" as opposed to refridgerated ones - aka "reefers"). I think that one of the problems with water based spreadable butter is that the water does slowly seperate/evaporate, turning it back into good old hard butter - thats why they may use Canola as well.

When they started making this spreadable butter it was only water they used (and not much mind) to mix in with the butter via a special process that cost more to make so they charged more for it.

Then they got the idea of using a process that homogenised and did stuff to the fat molecules in the butter and this made is spreadable. The exporter claimed that this was no longer butter and therefore not subject to the European quota sytem on butter imports, but the European butter makers claimed that this was not the case and the spreadable butter was therefore in fact "butter".
I can't recall the outcome of that court case, but I think the European farmers won.

And now it looks like they use Canola oil instead.

The spreadable butter we get locally is usually "fresher" and therefore has a different method of making it - I'm sure and it has water in it, the next time I'm in the local supermarket I'll read the label on the spreadable butters and see...