Does Butter Have Milk In It?

milk in butter

Question: Does butter have milk in it?

Answer: Yes, milk is the main ingredient used to make butter. Butter is, in fact, a dairy product. It is made by initially separating the fat portion of milk known as buttercream with the liquid portion known as skim milk. The buttercream is what is used to make real butter.

After pasteurization of the buttercream, it is churned to remove the additional remaining liquid known as buttermilk. The buttermilk is drained, which essentially leaves what we know as butter. Salt can be churned into the butter at this point to create salted butter. The butter is then shaped, packaged for sale, and shipped.

While butter is derived from milk, its lactose content is actually very low. This is because the liquid portion of the milk holds a large percentage of the lactose. As we indicated earlier, much of the liquid found in milk is drained away to make butter. This leaves trace amounts of lactose, which makes it suitable to eat in moderation for many people with lactose intolerance or less severe lactose issues.

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