Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

2

http://www.kerrygold.co.uk/index.php?p=faqs,3

Are Kerrygold Packet and Softer Butters organic? No, the milk used in our products is not guaranteed organic.

it isnt organic.

Do Kerrygold Packet and Softer Butters contain any genetically modified organisms (GMOs)? Whilst cows predominately are fed on pasture, they will be fed on feed supplements during the winter months and there are no GMO free guarantees on the feed used. Generally, our butter is only made in the summer months when cows are typically fed on 100% pasture.

Butter is only made from the summer month! There is no quarantee that the feed used in the winter month is GMO free.

So probably Kerrygold cows are grain or silage finnished in winter?! Or they get soy in winter?

In this article Ireland

EU successfully undermines Ireland as a GMO-free zone

http://www.gmfree.org/blogviews/143-08032011

"Ireland urgently needs international help to put pressure on the government to reverse >this stance.Irish products such as Kerrygold butter are marketed in America and elsewhere as being natural and grass-fed. However, thanks to there being no legal requirement to declare the use of GM animal feed, it is being widely reported that an increasing percentage of animal feed in Ireland comes from GMO sources, and I think Weston Price consumers will be shocked to learn has no stance on GMOs.Until now, I'm sure it wasn't thought necessary.What You Can DoContact Kerrygold/The Irish Dairy Board, and the Irish Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food; to let them know that the reputation of exported Irish foods is under threat by the recent pro-GM stance, in particular with the Irish-American community (which is of massive importance to the Irish economy). Let them know that they will be risking international boycott if they do not take the necessary action to keep Ireland and its food chain GMO free.Send Your Emails to:Kerrygold/Irish Dairy Board: idb@idb.ieBrendan Smith: constituency@agriculture.gov.ie Kerrygold/Irish Dairy Board: idb@idb.ie Brendan Smith: constituency@agriculture.gov

So kerrygold is probably fed in winter GMO grains!!??!!

edited Jun 14 2011 at 2:42

Paul
10.6k●2●12●57

asked May 24 2011 at 20:11

oak0y

Why don't you email and ask them? I still say it's way better than any of the grocery store butters. I bought some Organic Valley butter just to have for back up and that butter doesn't even look anything like the Kerrygold. It's a really pale yellow-ish color almost white really, it's very hard and the flavor is very mild compared to Kerrygold. Even if it isn't certified organic I personally think it's better quality. – HeatherC May 24 2011 at 20:17

I also still use it. maybe we can ask them all together! As mass email! If the consumer says and make clear that we not wanna have GMO in our kerrygold they will control it! We have the power with our voice as consumer and can take part at the food chain! By staying united. United against GMo! – oak0y May 24 2011 at 20:21

Is smjor better? – Curiosity in HS May 25 2011 at 0:34

1

Yes I would say that you can bet that their cows are fed grain at any time that the grass is not sufficient. Kerrygold is a large multinational company. They have a system that requires them to have product ready and on the shelves at all times. This necessitates feeding that cow WHATEVER it's going to take to get that cream for butter. It's also pasteurized which I would say is one more fundamental reason to avoid it. You and I want grass fed for our health but the simple reality is that the company needs a PRODUCT and a SALE and if that means feeding grains that is of course what they willdo – ben61820 May 25 2011 at 0:44

Ipso facto they're an evil company? no that's not what I'm saying btw. Just that we should realize the reality a large company is faced with and not be naive – ben61820 May 25 2011 at 0:45

Anish · Answer 1 · 2011-06-13 20:44:09Z UTC

I emailed Kerrygold USA asking if their butter is all grass-fed and I got this response:

"Kerrygold dairy products are made from the freshest milk of grass fed cows. While our cheeses and butters are not labeled "organic" they are 100% natural. While Americans are now rediscovering the benefits of grass feeding cows, the Irish have never wavered, recognizing that cows are natural ruminants and grass is their natural diet. Dairy cows, milk and butter have been part of Irish society for thousands upon thousands of years, according to the Cork Butter Museum in Cork city, Ireland. Cattle have been in Ireland since 3500 BC. Much of the milk from dairy cows was turned into butter. The Cork Butter Exchange, a market created by the merchants of Cork city in 1770, was in its time, the largest butter market in the world, exporting butter as far away as Europe and America.

Today, most of the milk from Ireland's small dairy farms go to local co-ops, where milk is collected, then sent on to be made into butter and cheeses using age-old processes. The supplier cooperatives have formed a distribution, marketing and selling cooperative, the Irish Dairy Board. The Board exports the dairy products the world over, on behalf of its member farmers and processors. This form of cooperation ensures the viability of Ireland's small family farms.

The resulting dairy products are all-natural. Cows are not given antibiotics or growth hormones that can find their way into the milk, and butter and cheeses are made without additives or preservatives. Ireland is the ideal environment for the production of milk and milk products from grass. Irish dairy farmers manage their small holdings (40+ acres) tightly to ensure the optimum access of their herds to fresh, edible and nutritious grass. Cows must be well fed and maintained at the right body condition in order to stay fertile and produce quality milk and this is key to quality dairying in Ireland. Any pesticide use on pasture would interfere with dairying and is not countenanced."

Seems legit.

Barb · Answer 2 · 2011-05-24 20:37:52Z UTC

I have my own issues with OV and do not buy their products when I can help it but you must know that there is OV butter, OV PASTURED butter (which would be like the KerryGold only cert organic and from the U.S.) and then there's another gold label OV butter- not sure what that is. The more people contact them regarding this issue, the better. Tell them that you're a customer that will take their business elsewhere. AND YOU SHOULD. There's a brand called Pasturelands that makes fabulous grassfed, organic butter seasonally, and in the winter I believe the cows are still grassfed, and their farms are located inside the U.S. You can also find pastured cream and make your own butter- it's easy, just pour it into a jar, close tightly and shake.

Chris Sturdy · Answer 3 · 2011-05-24 20:57:45Z UTC

2

How about dropping butter for other fats? Just saying...

answered May 24 2011 at 20:57

Chris Sturdy
870●2●4

4

If you tolerate dairy, butter is very healthy. – mari May 24 2011 at 22:15

1

I know that dairy can be very healthy. I also know that it can cause problems if you have autoimmunity issues (which I have). I was simply adding my 2cents to the thread. I can't believe that I got voted down on a PALEO list for just suggesting dropping dairy rather than spending time and increasing stress levels worrying about whether the Irish cows are eating grass with a certified organic certificate! If you like and can eat dairy, go for it. If you don't and can't, don't. But either way you swing on the issue, don't get lost in the details, or in your own world. Life's too short. – Chris Sturdy May 25 2011 at 15:55

1

I agree. If you can't always get ahold of a good product from a good source, don't use it at all. Use some good ghee :). I also agree about the voting down- seriously people. – Barb May 25 2011 at 18:51

What other fats do you have in mind? Butter is better than olive oil. It is way better than canola oil, soybean oil, corn oil, etc. And is worrying about whether butter is grass-fed all that different from worrying about whether beef tallow is grass-fed? – maurile Jun 14 2011 at 1:35

if you buy whole animals like lambs and goats you won't need to buy butter anymore since you'll have plenty of tallow – Bread-Eating Beelzebub Jun 14 2011 at 3:04

MikeD · Answer 4 · 2011-05-24 21:03:04Z UTC

0

I am not sure you can actually certify something fed grass as organic anyway. Organic usually means organic grain feed.

answered May 24 2011 at 21:03

MikeD
3,855●1●5●19

Organic mean no GMO, and organic should mean at least summer pastured grass fed and winter hay haysilage or organic grain fed. – oak0y May 24 2011 at 21:39

No oaKey, you're wrong on that. In the US the term organic has absolutely no relationship to feeding grass or not. It only simply means that whatever the cow is fed, be it grass, grain, or cardboard for that matter, is organic. It can be organic anything. – ben61820 May 25 2011 at 0:39

1

i prefer to eat fully organic cardboard fed butter. – Jack Kronk Jun 13 2011 at 21:33

as long as the organic cardboard was printed on with naturally derived soy ink its probably good feedstock – MikeD Jun 14 2011 at 0:41

@MikeD: You can certify a 100% grass-fed product as organic. I've seen them! @ben61820: Organic standards do stipulate that a certain percentage of a cow's diet is forage (pasture, hay, baleage, etc.), and they need to be grazed on pasture at least 120 days a year, though most organic dairy cows get more than that. – Leslie Jun 14 2011 at 4:59

Yoannah_offca · Answer 5 · 2011-05-24 21:33:54Z UTC

0

I think it's making too much issue. They say that they generally use the summer milk, so small risk of getting the winter milk butter... And they can't say they are organic unless they pay a lot of money for certificates and what not. And how can you certify grass? A lot of times companies that are practically organic or natural, can't say it, b/c they could be sued, so just in case they add "may contain... "

answered May 24 2011 at 21:33

Yoannah_offca
5,301●5●22

	The cow only have one digestion system with four stomachs. If you feed them GMO grain they affect the blood and the body. – oak0y May 24 2011 at 21:38
	The National Organic Program considers pasture a crop; it has to be managed organically (I think for a year?) before an organic herd can graze on it. If a farmer purchases dry hay from off the farm for feed, it has to be certified organic as well. – Leslie Jun 14 2011 at 5:05

WHAT DOES KERRYGOLD SAY ABOUT ITSELF?

5 Answers