One Of MA’s Favorite Butters Recalled Over “Fecal” Bacteria

This is some scary, downright WEIRD stuff, Massachusetts residents. One of our favorite dairy products here in the Bay State (produced in a state that borders us, incidentally) is being voluntary recalled by the company.

Newsweek reports that a voluntary recall has been issued by Agri-Mark Inc., the parent company of Cabot Creamery, concerning one of their butter products. Apparently, the product could be contaminated with coliform bacteria.

While coliform bacteria themselves are essentially harmless, their presence indicates potential fecal contamination. That means there's a good chance for more harmful bacteria to be present, such as E coli and salmonella.

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Symptoms of E. Coli infection can manifest anywhere from 2 to 8 days after consumption of the organism and can last about a week. In addition, symptoms usually consist of diarrhea(often bloody) and vomiting.

Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Even otherwise healthy people can suffer from fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, and vomiting.

According to the Cabot Creamery website, the recall concerns 1 lot of 8oz Cabot Creamery Extra Creamy Premium Butter, Sea Salted due to:

Finished product testing revealing an elevated level of coliform bacteria....There have been no reported complaints or illnesses related to this product.

Luckily, Agri-Mark successfully recovered almost all of the affected product before it was sold to customers. The product was NOT distributed in Massachusetts (luckily for us) however, it was distributed to 7 other states including New York, Connecticut, and Vermont.

Recently, the FDA gave the recall a Class III risk categorization, meaning basically that use of or exposure to the product will not likely lead to negative health consequences. For more on the recall, visit Newsweek's website here.