Dairy fats.

This article details EU Regulations relating to the sale and use of butter to certain processing industries: those producing bakery goods, ice cream and other milk products. Two original Regulations, 262/79 and 1932/81, have now been replaced by a single text for reasons of clarity, efficiency and to give the Regulation greater scope. Guidance is given for those purchasing butter, cream and concentrated butter under this regulation. Regulation 570/88 (16 February 1988) applies to: butter meeting the national quality grade requirements; concentrated butter first produced in a certified establishment; and, since 1991, cream. A table is presented showing the consumption of butter in different food market sectors from 1984 to 1994. The table is divided into 5 types of purchasers/consumers: households; non-profit-making organizations; food industries (given reduced prices); other groups; and others. Consumption by households and non-profit making organizations has declined, whilst the others showed anincrease. Food producers showed the greatest increase. Another table shows the amounts of reduced-price butter sold (1984-1994) in the EU to industries using milk products. The table compares the bakery and ice cream industries and distinguishes between the butter obtained from public stock and that from the EU. The market has increased steadily to 353 000 tonnes in 1994, whilst amounts from public stock have fluctuated reaching 191 000 tonnes in 1994. EU butter is sold by auction. There is generally one auction per fortnight. The bidders must commit themselves to certain conditions. Details are given of the amount of butter subsidy ascribed to each of 3 sectors: ice cream manufacturers, biscuit/cake manufacturers and viennoiserie. The fastest growth in butter usage was attributed to viennoiserie.