Grab your toast and check your fridge — because one batch of butter just got slapped with a recall that’s… less than appetizing. Cabot Creamery is pulling over 1,700 pounds of butter off shelves due to elevated levels of coliform bacteria, which, to put it delicately, is a sign that your butter might’ve come into contact with poop.
Yes, fecal contamination. In your butter. Just what you needed this spring.
The product in question: Cabot Creamery Premium Sea Salted Butter, sold in 8-ounce packages (two 4-ounce sticks), with UPC code 0 78354 62038 0, a best-by date of September 9, 2025, and lot numbers 090925-055 and 2038.
Where was it sold?
This not-so-fresh batch of butter was distributed in Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, Maine, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Arkansas — so if you’re buttering anything in those states, it’s worth a quick label check.
What’s the risk?
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has categorized the recall as a Class III event, meaning the risk of serious health consequences is low. That said, coliform bacteria in food products can signal the potential presence of pathogens like E. coli, which can cause all the usual food poisoning symptoms: cramps, diarrhea, nausea, and, in more severe cases, kidney failure.
And while no illnesses have been reported so far, no one wants their grilled cheese sandwich to come with a side of “maybe this was exposed to feces.”
How did this happen?
The butter recall stems from elevated coliform levels, which can occur when there are sanitation issues during production or packaging. According to the FDA and Cabot’s parent company, Agri-Mark, Inc., that’s exactly what happened.
While coliforms aren’t inherently harmful, their presence in a dairy product is a blinking neon sign for possible contamination. In short: it’s a quality control oopsie that you don’t want melting on your pancake stack.
What should you do?
If your butter matches the recalled details:
- Do not eat it (we know, heartbreaking).
- Return it to the store where you bought it, or toss it out.
- If you’re feeling off after eating it, call your doctor just to be safe.
Questions? You can reach the FDA hotline at 1-888-INFO-FDA (1-888-463-6332).
Butter luck next time
Cabot says they’re taking the situation seriously and are committed to food safety. But for now, it’s probably best to skip the “extra creamy” and go for “definitely poop-free.”
Check your fridge, check your labels, and maybe hold off on the butter board until you know your spread hasn’t been part of a recall involving fecal indicators. Because butter is great—but not when it comes with E. coli as a potential plus-one.
