A survey of restaurants, supermarkets and food production plants showed instances of E.coli in popular foods such as gimbap and lunch boxes, the Food Safety Ministry said Thursday.

The products that tested positive for E.coli were being sold in well-known franchises and supermarkets.

The bacteria were found in gimbap sold in places like fast food chain Pomato‘s branch in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, supermarket Homeplus in Seo-gu, Daejeon, and Lotte Mart in Jeonju.

E.coli was also found in foods producd by Lotte Foods in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.

In total, 49 of the nearly 2,000 food samples collected by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety were found to have dangerous levels of various substances including E.coli.

In addition, 331 of the approximately 10,400 food stores and production facilities surveyed failed to meet sanitation and health standards.

The Food Safety Ministry conducted the survey in cooperation with regional governments from June 13 to July 8 to inspect food safety during the summer months.

By Won Ho-jung (hjwon@heeraldcorp.com)