BRENHAM, Texas -- On April 20, 2015, Blue Bell Creameries of Brenham, Texas, voluntarily recalled all of its products currently on the market, made at all of its facilities, because they have the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. This recall includes ice cream, frozen yogurt, sherbet and frozen snacks made at all Blue Bell facilities.
Blue Bell is recalling products distributed to retail outlets, including foodservice accounts, convenience stores and supermarkets in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wyoming and international locations.
Blue Bell has facilities in Brenham, in Broken Arrow, Okla., and in Sylacauga, Ala., and the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) currently has open investigations at facilities in each of these locations.
"We're committed to doing the 100% right thing, and the best way to do that is to take all of our products off the market until we can be confident that they are all safe," said Paul Kruse, Blue Bell CEO and president. "We are heartbroken about this situation and apologize to all of our loyal Blue Bell fans and customers. Our entire history has been about making the very best and highest quality ice cream, and we intend to fix this problem. We want enjoying our ice cream to be a source of joy and pleasure, never a cause for concern, so we are committed to getting this right."
The current recall decision was the result of findings from an enhanced sampling program initiated by Blue Bell that revealed that Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream half gallons produced on March 17, 2015, and March 27, 2015, contained the bacteria. This means Blue Bell has now had several positive tests for Listeria in different places and plants and as previously reported five patients were treated in Kansas and three in Texas after testing positive for Listeria monocytogenes.
"At every step, we have made decisions in the best interest of our customers based on the evidence we had available at the time," Kruse said. "At this point, we cannot say with certainty how Listeria was introduced to our facilities and so we have taken this unprecedented step. We continue to work with our team of experts to eliminate this problem."
Blue Bell is implementing a procedure called "test and hold" for all products made at all of its manufacturing facilities. This means that all products will be tested first and held for release to the market only after the tests show they are safe. The Broken Arrow facility will remain closed as Blue Bell continues to investigate.
In addition to the "test and hold" system, Blue Bell is implementing additional safety procedures and testing including expanding its system of daily cleaning and sanitizing of equipment , expanding its system of swabbing and testing our plant environment by 800% to include more surfaces, sending samples daily to a leading microbiology laboratory for testing and providing additional employee training.
Blue Bell said it expects to resume distribution soon on a limited basis once it is confident in the safety of its product.
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