You shouldn't have to check the label to know whether a stick of real butter contains milk. However, Costco is recalling 80,000 pounds of it for that very reason.
The FDA made the call in October to pull 79,200 pounds of Kirkland Signature butter from shelves after discovering that the packaging did not specify that it "contains milk." Nothing was wrong with the butter itself. Both Salted and Unsalted Signature Sweet Cream Butters were recalled due to not declaring the allergen on the package.
And while it's better safe than sorry, fans trolled the retailer over the incident nonetheless.
"It's butter," one person simply wrote in response to the news.
"I would like a list of people who actually return their butter because of this issue. I want to be sure they are never elected or hired as public officials," another chimed in on X.
"We’re so disconnected from what our food is and where it comes from people need labels on everything," a social media user wrote.
The internet seemed genuinely concerned/confused/horrified that people might possibly not know that butter is made from milk.
"If you need to government to tell you that butter is a dairy product then…well, I can’t help you," someone else commented on X. "God I loathe the state.”
"To be called 'Butter' it must contain milk or milk derivatives. Talk about useless government," another pointed out.
They're not wrong, either. For a product to be considered "butter," as opposed to an alternative like a "buttery spread" or "plant-based milk butter," it has to contain real dairy milk. Typically, it's made from cow's milk, however, it can also be produced from the milk of a goat, sheep, or buffalo, Healthline reports.
The CDC says that there have been no reported illnesses or allergic reactions due to the mislabeled butter. But the recall is important nonetheless considering the fact that milk accounts "for most serious allergic reactions in the United States."
