Many outlaw butters. The Directorate General for Fraud Control (DGCCRF) has singled out the practices of some professionals, saying in a statement that it had detected an "anomaly rate" of 29.5% during a vast investigation. This study was carried out in 2019 among 129 establishments in the sector - artisanal and industrial manufacturers, livestock farms, retail businesses, mass distribution, bakeries - and its conclusions were published on 29 December.
Of the 89 samples taken during the controls and analysed in the laboratory, 15% had a water content higher than the maximum of 16% imposed by European standards. This is a classic trick used by food manufacturers that allows manufacturers to reduce their raw material costs, but which "alters the quality of the products", the DGCCRF reminds us.
Read alsoVeolia, Boiron, McDonald's... These companies singled out by the Fraud Repression for late payments
Whey instead of cream
The inspectors also 'often' found the use of whey fat (whey) instead of cream - or a mixture of the two - in the manufacture of butter when only cream was indicated in the list of ingredients. In addition, four samples of semi-salted butter did not have enough salt to qualify as such (their salt content must be between 0.8g and 3g per 100g).
The DGCCRF says it has also uncovered practices of reuse by manufacturers of improperly packaged or returned butters "by melting them and reincorporating them into the manufacture of high-quality butters such as extra-fine butters for which recycling is prohibited".
«
This investigation has made it possible to note that non-compliance is found among both agricultural producers and industrialists," says the DGCCRF. At the end of these checks, for which it gave priority to education when there was no intention to commit fraud, the administration sent 30 warnings, seven injunctions and one report of a criminal offence for destruction of seals.