"Mark Thorson" > wrote in message
...
> Julia Altshuler wrote:
>>
>> While in the check-out line purchasing unsalted butter for holiday
>> baking, I noticed the ingredients on the store brand: "Cream, natural
>> flavorings. Contains milk." I realize that not all unknown natural
>> flavorings are necessarily harmful, but I have to wonder what they're
>> doing in butter. If butter doesn't taste like butter, there's something
>> wrong, and if added flavorings are needed to make it taste like butter,
>> there's something wronger. Anyone have the real scoop on what they're
>> putting in there?
>
> Butter suffers from a large seasonal variation
> in flavor due to the forage available to the cattle.
> It could be that they're trying to flatten out
> this variation by adding flavors in controlled
> amounts. When people become accustomed to a staple
> item in their diet, they can be very intolerant
> of variations in flavor. People who regularly
> drink beer or smoke cigarettes, for example,
> tend to stick to one brand, and expect a high
> level of consistency from that brand.

I;ll defer to Sheldon here.