Recently, Melt, a vegetable oil spread, seems to have changed its packaging perhaps in an effort to boost sales. Best we can tell, this was the old package:
The new packaging is dramatically different, and no longer emphasizes the product name, Melt, but rather shouts one other thing — butter. It even seems to call the product “butter” or “butter sticks.”
Only in much smaller type beneath the big butter representation are the words “Made from Plants.”
Our concern is that a hurried or distracted shopper could easily pick up this product, seeing the huge word “butter” on it, and think that’s what they were buying.
“Butter” is not a generic term that can simply be applied to any kind of spread. There is a 99-year-old federal law — a standard of identity — for butter.
“butter†shall be understood to mean the food product usually known as butter, and which is made exclusively from milk or cream, or both, with or without common salt, and with or without additional coloring matter, and containing not less than 80 per centum by weight of milk fat…
So butter has to be made only from milk or cream and contain at least 80% milk fat.
*MOUSE PRINT:
Melt is made from a combination of coconut, palm fruit, sunflower and flaxseed oils, and is only 62% fat.
The FDA has jurisdiction over butter labeling, and over the misbranding of food products if they have a label with a “false or misleading representation with respect to another food.” Apparently, however, the agency has not been particularly motivated to take action against companies that arguably try to mislead customers into thinking their spread is real butter.
The outgoing executive director of the The Butter Institute told Consumer World that “it is fairly obvious that marketers of these products are looking to hitchhike on the highly regarded taste and performance of real butter and its popularity with consumers. …the improper labeling of food products claiming to be butter, but not meeting the standard could be in violation of not only federal labeling regulations, but also an act of Congress.” That organization says it is not aware of any regulatory action taken by the FDA as a result of its complaints.
The state of California tried to stop another company from using the term “butter” on its package for a vegan spread, but did not succeed in its lawsuit.
We asked the company that makes Melt some very pointed questions about why they changed their packaging, why it made the word “butter” the most prominent word on the display panel, and whether it was an attempt to potentially mislead shoppers.
The company has not responded despite two inquiries.
