Joelle Mertzel is on a quest to alter the way that we perceive butter, and she is bringing her argument all the way up to the federal level to do it.
The owner of Kitchen Concepts Unlimited in Northridge did her own study on butter’s shelf life after learning that the Food and Drug Administration says butter should be put in the fridge within two days.
Mertzel and her team collaborated with a Los Angeles food safety lab that is FDA and USDA accredited. Four samples of consumer butter were randomly selected from different grocery stores, and the primary deterioration signs were checked for (yeast, bacteria, mold, and rancidity). The outcomes demonstrated that the butter samples were of good microbiological quality when held at room temperature for 21 days, according to the shelf-life test performed at Michelson Laboratories, Inc. Butter is safe to eat and free from deterioration for up to 21 days. They put President Butter, Ralph’s Organic Butter, Land O’Lakes, and Challenge to the test.
After the findings, Kitchen Concepts issued the FDA a citizen petition asking the agency to change its advice on butter storage from one to two days to 21 days. Mertzel’s subsequent research revealed that 46% of Americans were unaware that butter could be stored outside of the refrigerator. She intends to educate the millions of Americans with bad butter habits.
Mertzel, who founded the women-owned business out of her Northridge garage, tells L.A. Weekly, it’s frustrating that there’s so much misinformation on a simple topic.
She claims that the FDA is unfair to the consumer because it is frequently in charge and offers inaccurate information in a matter of days. Thus, I’ve taken the initiative to let people know that butter may be kept on the counter for three weeks without needing to be refrigerated. We just filed a petition with the FDA, and I also conducted shelf life tests where I had an unrefrigerated stick of butter tested by a food safety lab. The results showed that butter can be left on the counter for three weeks, which is more than enough time to use up a stick of butter. In actuality, butter usually lasts longer than bread.
At the end of the day, having soft butter that is always ready to use in the kitchen is a joy, according to Mertzel, whose passion for butter inspired the creation of Butterie, a flip-top butter dish. That tastes superior. Utilization is simpler. When you are not chunking it on your bread, you even use less. But the majority of Americans are ignorant of this, and I want to educate them.
So we asked Little Dom’s pastry chef, Ann Kirk, a professional who spends the majority of her days covered in butter, if she prefers the fridge or the counter.
She wrote to L.A. Weekly, “May I vote for both?” Realistically speaking, softening butter for cookies and cakes doesn’t take very long, and the quality of baked goods is better when the butter is slightly soft than when it has been left out all day. But I love having soft, room-temperature butter on hand to spread over fresh bread or toast. We never had an issue with the butter going bad when I was a child since we always kept it on the counter. It lasts for at least a week at room temperature, which is definitely longer than a few days. I strongly advise keeping some on hand!”
