Buttering Them Up: Black Market and Hard Butter In Canada

It's rich, creamy, and apparently a hot commodity for criminals. In this episode of The Dark Side of Dining, we uncover the baffling world of Canadian butter with food policy expert, Sylvain Charlebois, famously known as The Food Professor.From the shocking theft of two truckloads of butter (worth nearly $200,000!) to the secret existence of Canada's strategic butter reserve, we explore why butter is big business and a target for the black market. As prices soar, black market butter offers a tempting discount to restaurant operators, highlighting the link between high food costs and rising food crime.The conversation dives deep into the infamous "Buttergate" scandal. Professor Charlebois explains how consumers noticed a change—their butter wasn't soft or spreadable at room temperature. Their research revealed the hidden truth: Canadian dairy farmers were increasingly using palm oil derivatives in cow feed (palmite) to boost butterfat content and profits.Discover the murky lack of transparency in the dairy industry, the environmental concerns of using palm oil, and why "Buttergate" went viral globally. Charlebois shares the political maneuvering that followed his academic publication and how the industry responded with a "self-investigation" that ultimately lacked accountability.We expand the discussion to the broader issue of food fraud, distinguishing between counterfeiting (theft and resale) and adulteration (mixing a costly ingredient with a cheaper one, like substituting olive oil with canola oil). While butter is safe from adulteration, its value makes it a prime target for counterfeiting.Finally, we touch on the emerging controversy of Bolver, a new feed designed to reduce cow burps and methane emissions, and why the lack of transparency from the dairy sector continues to fuel public skepticism. Learn why being an informed, vocal consumer is the best defense against the dark side of dining.