Cabot butter recalled over possible fecal contamination

Cabot Creamery butter parent company Agri-Mark is recalling more than 1,700 pounds of a butter product over concerns that it could be contaminated with coliform, a type of fecal bacteria.

The company is voluntarily recalling 189 cases of Cabot’s 8-ounce Extra Creamy Premium Sea Salted Butter, according to a March 26 enforcement report from the Food and Drug Administration. 

The Cabot butter product comes in packages containing two 4-ounce sticks in cardboard shells, according to the recall notice, which says it could contain “elevated levels” of coliform. 

Its product code is UPC 0 78354 62038 0, and it was distributed across seven states, including Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, Maine, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Arkansas. 

The recall is categorized as class 3, which is the least serious category and means that exposure to the product is not likely to cause adverse health consequences, according to the FDA. 

Coliforms appear in both animal and human wastes and in plant and soil material.bacteria that are always present in the digestive tracts of animals, including humans, and are found in their wastes. They are also found in plant and soil material.

While most coliform bacteria do not cause illness, some rare strains of E. coli, a type of coliform bacteria can lead to serious illness, according to New York’s Department of Health. 

The presence of coliform can indicate that a food product contains other more dangerous pathogens. Most of the reported human cases of disease caused by E. coli have been linked to consuming under cooked hamburgers, according to the department.