How is organic ghee different from normal ghee?
Simple: the ‘organic’ ghee has the word ‘organic’ on the label. No significant difference otherwise.
‘Organic’ signifies, in the context of ghee, that the milk producing animal (could be cow or buffalo; haven’t heard of organic ghee made from milk of goats, sheep, camels etc.) has been fed ‘organically grown animal feed’ – so the milk, butter, paneer, khoa, ghee etc. are organic
“Organically grown” refers to avoidance of synthetic pesticides, mainly. Synthetic fertilizers are absorbed, but are broken down in / by the plant to transform and use the nutrients
’Organic’ is a fashionable word today as most ‘highly educated people’ want to avoid ‘chemicals’ in their food, especially for their children. A very sensible and noble objective! However, none of those seeking ‘organic’ products have the wherewithal to verify claims. They don’t look into the plausibility of using the word ‘organic’ with the products like (shelled) beans, peas, peanuts, oil seeds … anything where the main product is protected by a shell and doesn’t come into contact with pesticides
In the context of ghee, what do you think the cows are fed? Grass and hay. How much of that is cultivated vis-a-vis harvested from natural growth? Were pesticides used in the cultivation of grass (it has very few enemies in nature)?
Most farmers use dry parts of wheat, rice and maize plants (also used in green form as maize plants are not dried to access maize) as animal feed. Does anyone check for pesticide residues in that ‘hay’? If we assume that those crops were grown organically, it is necessary to assume the dairies are near the ‘organic’ crop fields. Are they?
Not being cynical here, but some ‘smart’ people do manage to get 1.5x the price for their products from gullible customers who believe in anything in their quest for better lives, and can afford to pay a higher price anyhow. Those sellers just have to put ‘organic’ on the label!
Another issue that clouds the discussion on ‘organic’ milk products: indigenous breeds of cows (“Desi cows”) and “A2 milk”. A lot of pseudo-scientific information is thrown around to convince people. This includes ‘studies’ conducted by dubious ‘institutions’ and groups – which throw all scientific research and analysis methods to the wind! So one can also get ‘organic’ A2 milk and milk products at 2x the price of products that don’t mention ‘organic’ and ‘A2’!
That’s not all! Then comes the method of making the ghee:
“made from yoghurt”: it’s not; just try making ghee or butter from yoghurt!
“made by Bilona method”: anyone who knows colloquial Hindi knows ‘bilona’ is churning in a pot, and mathani / biloni is the whisk / churner. This method has been used since time immemorial to separate butter from whey. Even commercial producers use it still! But then … one adds the magic word: “Vedic”!
”untouched by hand”: is that a differentiator? Any mechanized dairy plant does this. Does it matter? How many people have fallen sick from their mothers removing butter from whey at home?
… and many more that come out of the marketing person’s creative mind.
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