A popular cream bun sold in South Korean convenience stores has been recalled after customers complained of a foul smell, with an investigation revealing that durian flavouring had been mistakenly used instead of melon.
Customers took to social media to complain about the odour, describing it as like “sewer or human faeces”. One user wrote: “It smells like weird poop.” Another said their cat, which usually loves bread, “buried it in the floor with its paws” and treated it like a “toilet”.
The manufacturer, Foodcore, traced the error to a mislabelling by the flavour supplier, which had labelled durian essence as melon. The company apologised, stating: “The melon-flavoured ingredient supplied to our company was, due to a mislabelling error by the flavour manufacturer, actually provided as durian flavouring.”
Durian is a tropical fruit known for its pungent smell and is banned on public transport in Singapore and in many hotels across Southeast Asia. Around 20,000 units of the buns had been distributed before the recall. The company confirmed that refunds and exchanges had been processed and that correctly flavoured products were back on sale.
