At the time palm oil used in dairy rations was cited as a potential reason and Dairy Farmers of Canada urged its members to switch out of palm oil for rations.
However, the study said it “cannot conclude that any perceived increase in the hardness of butter be solely attributed to the use of palm-derived feed supplements.”
That's about as mealy-mouthed as it can get.
Group chairman Daniel Lefebvre said they also found that there’s a lack of data on the fatty-acid composition of butter, making it difficult to determine what, if anything, has changed.
The Expert Working Group on Feed Supplementation included representatives from the Consumers’ Association of Canada, processors and dairy farmers.
At the time, CBC, the Globe and Mail and Sylvain Charlebois of Dalhousie University made a big deal of the belief that butter was harder.
