South Korea's food and drug safety authorities said Wednesday that they have ordered Echire butter imported from France to be discarded after they found a high level of coliforms in several samples, some strains of which could cause diarrhea and food poisoning.
“Echire butter 'Doux' 250g produced in France and imported by Maeil Dairies has been found to contain coliforms beyond the permissible level and ordered to be discarded,” the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said.
The Korea Food and Drug Administration said that coliform bacteria were found in 5 out of 5 butter products.
Coliforms are bacteria that are commonly found in the lower intestine of humans and warm-blooded animals. While most of its strains are harmless, some can cause serious food poisoning, according to the World Health Organization.
“Containing coliforms means the sanitation process was poor,” an administration official said.
“We discarded all of the products found to contain the bacteria, so there is no actual distribution of those products,” Maeil Dairies said.
Echire butter is a French-made butter imported by Maeil Dairies and sold in major supermarkets here. It is made from the milk of 85 farms in the Poitou-Charentes region and bears the "Appellation d’Origine Protegee" certification, according to Maeil Dairies' website.
