It appears to affect a particular type of customer, and a critical—if obvious—ingredient wasn't listed on the label.
64,800 Pounds of Butter Have Been Recalled
Published on Jul. 31, 2025
Margarine versus butter has been an ongoing debate for ages. Is one verifiably the healthier pick for your bagel or baked potato? While the Mayo Clinic notes, “Margarine often tops butter when it comes to heart health” for its lower saturated fat content, other opinions have asserted that the all-natural ingredients found in some butter brands tend to make it healthier. Recent research has even suggested that butter could be a type of dairy showing some preventive effect against colon cancer risk.
No matter what your chosen spread is, early Thursday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an alert regarding a recall of 1,800 cases—that’s 64,800 pounds—of NH European Style Butter Blend manufactured by Chesterfield, MO-based Bunge Oils. (The NH is likely to be abbreviated for “non-hydrogenated.”)
“Allergen labeling – undeclared milk” is the stated reason for the recall. Though it may be obvious that milk is used in margarine or butter products, it’s still critical to list on product labels, especially since Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE) says an allergy to cow’s milk “is the most common food allergy in infants and young children”—and also a common allergy for adults, too. Past data suggests as many as 6.2 million Americans may have an allergy to milk.
The report says the butter blend was sent to “12 distribution centers located throughout the U.S.,” as well as one distribution center evidently located in the Dominican Republic. It seems unlikely that the recalled butter blend product was directly available for consumers to purchase in stores, as the Bunge Dairy page appears to indicate food manufacturers use their products to make a variety of dairy-based items.
Provided product details include:
- NH European Style Butter Blend, Bunge
- Net weight: 1 pound (1 LB)
- MFD IN USA BY: Bunge Oils, Chesterfield, MO 63017
- Packed in white paperboard cases (36 blocks to a case)
- OW NH EURO BLEND SOLIDS 2015918
- Product: 5023937
- UPC: 1 00 78684 73961 2
- Lot code: 5064036503
From the FDA report, the recall appears to have been first initiated on July 14 but was then classified as a Class II event on Wednesday, July 30. The FDA considers Class II recalls to be situations “in which use of or exposure to a violative product may cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences or where the probability of serious adverse health consequences is remote.”
On the Bunge website, the European Style Butter Blends are described as having “a higher oil content than traditional margarines to impart added flavor and richness to finished foods.”
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