Pulmuone subsidiary Foodmers announced on the 13th that it has recalled and disposed of all of its bread products related to the salmonella outbreak.
A Pulmuone official noted during a call with ChosunBiz that "the bread supplied to school meal service locations is believed to be the problematic products," adding, "As soon as we recognized the fact, we recalled and disposed of all of those bread products."
Currently, Pulmuone is cooperating with the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency to determine the exact cause. A Pulmuone official said, "We are investigating from various angles to see if an issue occurred during the manufacturing process or if there was a problem with storage along the distribution route," adding, "We intend to disclose everything as soon as the results come out."
Previously, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency reported that a total of 208 individuals displayed symptoms of food poisoning after consuming the bread products at four facilities across the country. The problematic products are "Pulskitchen high-calcium strawberry cream roll cake" and "high-calcium domestic wheat chocolate banana bread." It has been confirmed that these products were manufactured by Mother Goose and that Foodmers delivered approximately 27,000 units to 260 outlets over two days from the 15th to 16th of last month.
The first reported case involved 155 symptomatic individuals at two school meal locations in the Chungbuk region. Subsequently, 18 cases were confirmed in Sejong and 35 in Jeonbuk Buan.
The Food and Drug Administration has currently suspended sales of the problematic products and has taken recall measures. Additionally, it is checking for further infections focusing on the school meal facilities where the products were supplied. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency is also confirming whether there are additional symptomatic cases at other facilities where the products were supplied.