Do You Actually Need to Refrigerate Butter? Everyone knows you need to keep milk, cheese,and yogurt in the refrigerator, or they’ll spoil. Butter is a little different. The FDA and the CDC have consistentlysaid that you can store butter on thecounter for a few days without it going bad. When butter is made, pasteurizationreduces pathogens found in the cream,says food scientist Janilyn Hutchings. "Salted butter and margarine are even betterprotected from bacterial growth becausesalt increases their stability," she said. Use butter or margarine that’s stored atroom temperature within a few daysbecause it will still spoil eventually. For best quality, keep butter and margarine in a covered dish and use them within a few days. Butter that hasn’t been pasteurized and butter spreads sold in tubs have to be refrigerated.
