kosher fake butter

One of the labmates got a rather large shipment of chemical the other day. On the side of this very large bottle was a stamp proclaiming this chemical as kosher.

Interesting, we thought. Most of our chemicals are explicit in stating that these chemicals are for research use only and not to be used for food or drugs. This got the lab chatting a little bit about what was inside. Acetoin (and the very similar diacetyl) are used to give things like margarine their butter-like flavor and smell. It's most recognizable as the smell of microwave popcorn. I considered this for a moment before cautiously sniffing around the outside of the container. I couldn't smell anything so I cracked the lid and made a rookie chemist mistake; I sniffed right in the mouth of the jar. A seasoned chemist would advise not sniffing at all, but when smelling the chemical is absolutely necessary you are supposed to waft the scent towards you. Well, the freshly opened acetoin nearly knocked me flat on my ass. It smelled awful, and only after about five minutes later, when my sense of smell started to clear up, did it start to smell anything like butter.

Some additional trivia... Less than a gram of this compound was needed, but the smallest quantity available is 1 kilogram. Rabbi Gershon Segal certified this particular fake butter flavoring as kosher; thanks, Rabbi.