Butter made from curd falls within the milk-based definition of butter under food adulteration rules.

Butter prepared from dahi or curd was treated as butter prepared from milk within Rule A. 11.05 of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules, 1955. The court read the phrase "prepared exclusively from milk or cream" by focusing on the basic material used, not on whether butter was made directly from milk or through an intermediate stage such as curd. It held that curd remains a milk product and that a construction advancing the anti-adulteration object of the Act was required. The reference was answered in the affirmative.

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Issues: Whether butter prepared from dahi or curd falls within the expression "butter" in Rule A. 11.05 of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules, 1955.

Analysis: The expression in the rule is "prepared exclusively from milk or cream" and the emphasis is on the basic material from which butter is made, not on the immediate process by which it is manufactured. Curd is itself prepared from milk by souring, and butter may be made either directly from milk or through the intermediate stage of curd or cream. The surrounding rules, including the definitions relating to milk products, did not compel a restrictive reading, and the rule was construed in a manner that advanced the object of the Act, namely prevention of adulteration. The reference to cream was treated as inclusive and not as excluding butter prepared from curd.

Conclusion: Butter prepared from dahi or curd is also butter prepared from milk within Rule A. 11.05, and the question referred was answered in the affirmative.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a food standard turns on the product being prepared from milk, a product made through the intermediate stage of curd remains within the definition if milk is still the basic material and the construction furthers the statute's anti-adulteration purpose.

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