Influencers are eating ghee by the spoonful. Brands are responding with whitewashed versions.
Watching ghee enter the mainstream has been a slow burn for many South Asians.
Watching ghee enter the mainstream has been a slow burn for many South Asians. Unlike viral foods that suddenly appear on everyone’s For You page with fadlike immediacy, the ancient, traditional form of clarified butter has been gradually making its way into the zeitgeist over the last two years.
In that time, South Asian food experts say, brands have taken notice. Influencers who tout it as the secret to their perfect skin or as an instant weight loss trick have shaped how some American consumers view ghee, which is made by heating milk solids until they separate from the liquid fat. New trendy companies have picked up on it and are producing whitewashed versions of it with exploitative names and logos, critics say, with the potential to take away space from South Asian-owned businesses.
The most watched TikTok on ghee features eccentric influencer Jeremy Fragrance, known for appraising smells and giving fragrance advice. He has made several videos simply sniffing jars of ghee while flapping his tongue and making noises at the camera.
“It is so sexy,” he said in the most viral of his ghee clips, which got 6.8 million views. “As far as I know, this originated in India because they didn’t have a fridge for a long time.”
He’s not technically wrong about that, according to experts, but the exoticization of ghee online has taken more insidious forms. The South Asian household staple is now blowing up on health TikTok.
Rating: 5