3 ms·

so if you pick up a package that says "Unsalted Butter" and nothing else, who the hell is going to assume no milk was used Lots of people in the U.S. don't kno

so if you pick up a package that says "Unsalted Butter" and nothing else, who the hell is going to assume no milk was used Lots of people in the U.S. don't know that butter is made from milk. I have met plenty of people who don't know that cheese is a dairy product. I have met plenty of people who think that mayonnaise is a dairy product... Very few people know that American caramel is a dairy product... while avoiding this kind of bureaucratic nonsense. This is not bureaucratic nonsense. Reporting ingredients has been table stakes for selling foodstuffs in the U.S. for several decades. A company that can't get something that basic right is also getting something else wrong. And that's the point of these seemingly bureaucratic rules: they're basically unit tests for the regulatory agencies to identify issues they require followup.

crazygringo 2y ago
> Lots of people in the U.S. don't know that butter is made from milk. I have met plenty of people who don't know that cheese is a dairy product. If there are people who are allergic to dairy who don't know butter or cheese come from milk, then I think there's an even bigger problem here...
- NaOH 2y ago
  People also make food for others. It's like having a gluten-free/celiac friend coming over for dinner and using soy sauce without bothering to notice soy sauce always contains wheat.
  - crazygringo 2y ago
    Sure, but that's why someone allergic to dairy might ask their friend who prepared dinner if anything was made with butter or cheese (or yogurt or sour cream, etc.), just to double-check. If the person cooking is uneducated enough to not know that butter and cheese come from milk, I highly doubt they're checking the box the butter comes in for an allergen listing.
    - NaOH 2y ago
      >If the person cooking is uneducated enough to not know that butter and cheese come from milk, I highly doubt they're checking the box the butter comes in for an allergen listing. The purpose of the regulations isn't about what anyone may think others will or won't do with the information, it's about making the information readily and unambiguously available.

crazygringo 2y ago

> Lots of people in the U.S. don't know that butter is made from milk. I have met plenty of people who don't know that cheese is a dairy product. If there are people who are allergic to dairy who don't know butter or cheese come from milk, then I think there's an even bigger problem here...

NaOH 2y ago
People also make food for others. It's like having a gluten-free/celiac friend coming over for dinner and using soy sauce without bothering to notice soy sauce always contains wheat.
- crazygringo 2y ago
  Sure, but that's why someone allergic to dairy might ask their friend who prepared dinner if anything was made with butter or cheese (or yogurt or sour cream, etc.), just to double-check. If the person cooking is uneducated enough to not know that butter and cheese come from milk, I highly doubt they're checking the box the butter comes in for an allergen listing.
  - NaOH 2y ago
    >If the person cooking is uneducated enough to not know that butter and cheese come from milk, I highly doubt they're checking the box the butter comes in for an allergen listing. The purpose of the regulations isn't about what anyone may think others will or won't do with the information, it's about making the information readily and unambiguously available.