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Kerrygold is marketed as grass-fed and all-natural, but the tub butter has concerning ingredients, dangers and marketing ploys to consider before buying.

Kerrygold, without question, is probably one of the best store butters you can buy. I myself have been using it for years for cooking.
The milk is from grass-fed cows and even though the cream used to make Kerrygold Butter is pasteurized, it is the best choice available to most folks who do not have access to raw butter from a small farm or who simply don’t want to use their precious raw butter for cooking.
I also know that many of you out there use Kerrygold too. When I conducted a Butter Poll on this blog awhile back, by far the most used butter (out of 1,500 or so total votes) was Kerrygold which received way more votes than even Organic Valley butter.
So what’s the problem?
My husband brought home the “new” Kerrygold butter the other day. On the surface, it looked fine. Nowhere on the outside of the package was there any indication that there was a problem with this butter. Here’s what it looks like.

I got suspicious with the “new” label, however. There’s nothing “new” about butter. That’s what I like about it after all!
Another tip-off that there was a problem lurking was the proclamation on the label that this “New Kerrygold” was “naturally softer”.
When I first saw the “naturally softer” words, I thought that meant that the butter was whipped and hence more spreadable. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want air whipped into my butter. This is a surefire way to get less product and get charged the same price for the privilege if you know what I mean.
I made a mental note to tell my husband not to buy this butter again because it was whipped and not as good a value.
But then, it got way worse…
Is Kerrygold Butter Grass-fed?
I took off the lid to the new Kerrygold package and saw the following words:

I had become a victim of the Big Fast One!
Kerrygold is stealthily selling LOWFAT butter and guess what? You get to pay the same price for the cheaper quality!
NOWHERE on the outside of the label did it say that the butter was low-fat. The ingredients said simply: pasteurized cream and salt the same as the commercialized Amish butter at the supermarket.
I daresay that this marketing ploy will be fooling a lot of folks who desire to buy full-fat grass-fed butter.
It seems that some butter brands have adopted what companies making substitutes for butter have been doing for years.
I have become very tuned in to these labeling tricks and manufacturer games over the years. When it comes to packaging, I double-check the ingredients along with the manufacturing processes every few months. This is even for products that I’ve been buying for years.
But how many people really do this?
Ingredient Bait and Switch
You NEED to be doing this!
Manufacturers are changing ingredients and packaging all the time! The primary intent of these “improvements” is to increase product sales and profitability. Your health is, sadly, of little to no concern in the grand scheme of things.
Reducing the fat content in its butter will skyrocket profits for Kerrygold as they will make the same per unit for the butter and yet be able to sell the skimmed cream to other companies to make ice cream or whatnot thereby increasing revenue substantially.
If you buy Kerrygold, I’m not telling you to stop buying it. I’m only telling you to beware of this new packaging nonsense and be sure what you buy is what you intend: full-fat butter!
By the way, if you are wondering why I love full-fat butter, you might want to educate yourself on the low-fat scam by learning about the history of butter vs margarine in the United States.
As for me, I will be returning this product to the store for a full refund. It is falsely advertised after all. I had no way of knowing it was a low-fat product until I opened it.
Manufacturer Response
I received this email from Kerrygold following the widespread sharing of this article. I find it very hard to believe that my blog suddenly brought this packaging error to their attention.
Do they have NO ONE on the production line in charge of quality control? This was not a difficult problem to identify. Could we have a bit of spin going on here? Perhaps so.
Dear Sarah,
Your blog has brought to our attention a packaging error of which we were unaware. While Kerrygold does sell a Reduced Fat & Sodium Butter the pack you show on your blog is 100% full fat butter which has been packed with the incorrect inner seal. There is no deliberate intent on our part to mislead our valued consumers or to misrepresent our product although we regret the confusion this is clearly creating.
We are working to identify how much product has been released into the market with the incorrect packaging so that we can replace it as soon as possible. In the meantime we would appreciate your assistance in clarifying the misunderstanding to your readers. We would love to provide further clarity — our email is [email protected] — and we are happy to answer any specific questions you and your readers may have in relation to the product.
With thanks & regards,
The Kerrygold Team
Why I No Longer Buy Kerrygold
I wanted to let all of you know that I no longer buy even the traditional Kerrygold brick butter in foil packaging. Why? A good friend visited Ireland and traveled extensively to a number of grass-based dairy farms.
This credible source told me that while the cows that provide cream for the Kerrygold butter are definitely on pasture and hence “grass-fed”, they receive supplemental GMO animal feed as well especially during the winter months. The local community and citizenry in Ireland concur and will tell you as much if you are in the area.
So, the word on the street is that Kerrygold is not legitimately pastured either.
Butter from cows that get GMO feed introduces the very real possibility of Roundup residue in the butter.
Thanks but no thanks!
While I have not been able to confirm this story 100%, I trusted the credibility of the information enough to permanently switch to another brand (I currently use this one).
I use this butter for cooking in addition to the homemade pastured raw butter I make for non-cooking purposes.
I also no longer recommend Kerry Gold in my Shopping Guide.
What about Organic Valley butter as an alternative to Kerry Gold? While I am not happy about Organic Valley’s policy that disallows member farmers to sell raw milk on the side to their community (treating them more like medieval serfs than the independent business owners that they are), I find this less onerous than deceptively feeding animals GMO feed without clearly informing the end consumer.

Hi Sarah, I’m gutted. Only been using KG for a year. It’s tasty but was using because of its benefits. But after reading all this , I’m thinking on trying ghee. Do you no best one’s with best nutritional value. And where to purchase from. Thanks
The ghee I buy is listed on my shopping guide page. I buy it online … very economical and no shipping. https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/resources/#3
I was buying Kerrygold butter from Asda, but they have increased their price (Kings Heath Birmingham) by 13% this year. From £1-60 to £1-85.
Do you know if the cows used for Kerrygold & Organic Valley are A2 casein cows?
They are not A2
Sarah,
You mentioned ghee. Do you use ghee yourself? If so, what brands, do you use ghee to replace cooking with butter?
Yes I use ghee all the time. Pure Indian Foods makes a high quality grassfed ghee that you can ship right to your door. It is shelf stable too, no refrigeration necessary. https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/go/cultured-ghee/
And so a SHEEP like yourself would continue buying Kerrygold butter even if they added mercury to it… I see how you SHEEP are!!
I love your site, Sarah, but this article made me sad. As someone who was just getting ready to switch to a grass-fed butter, I had learned about Kerrygold, but then saw this article and was ready to throw my arms in the air and just go back to conventional (I had found negative reports about Organic Valley, too — the two choices I have at my grocery). I realize that companies like Organic Valley and Kerrygold might not be anywhere near perfect, but I’d hate to think that your article would turn even one person away from choosing them over choosing a conventional dairy choice. After further research I’ve chosen to purchase products from both companies, and I’m glad I did. But this article, which I at first read only down to the point where you showed the bottom of the foil cover, almost made a non-convert out of me. I’m sure that’s not your intention, but if the article was more clearly marked at the beginning with the “Update”, which clarified things for me, then it might not have that unintended effect of discouraging someone who is trying to find a better butter choice.
I am sorry to discourage you Ken. That was certainly never my intention. Why don’t you mail order ghee (butter oil)? If you are a Prime member, you can get gorgeous deep yellow grassfed ghee shipped to your door in 2 days no shipping. Even with shipping, it is a great alternative to the low quality butter that is now taken over supermarkets.
Much ado about nothing. Grandma always said: “You gotta eat 2 barrels of dirt before you die, and I haven’t finished my first one yet”. Try them all. Then continue buying the brand that tasted the best. The orange juice I drink is definitely the most processed garbage on the market; but, it tastes really good, so that’s the one I buy.
At Whole Foods in Dallas, they had no Kerrygold but the silver hard package. It sad “New Sticks perfect for cooking and baking”. I’ve used Kerrygold for many years so I know what consistency it should be when melted. It was thin, runny like margarine, not butter, which melted should be frothy. Since I am grain free, GMO grain is not an option as well since it creates disruption in the gut. Sad. I’ll go back to French butter and see if it melts as it should.
Don’t agree. Love all kerrygold products. As for paying more for less fat or false advertising I see that everyday- that is very common practice on all US products. And Kerrygold cheese is fantastic also.
All butter is no good for you. It and other animal fats is the major cause of insulin resistance.
Wrong. Animal fats and plant based saturated fats (such as coconut oil) keep the blood sugar steady freddy. Try it and see … your sugar cravings (the real villain of insulin resistance) will decrease dramatically.