Blue Bell Creameries of Brenham, TX, announced Monday that it is recalling all of its products currently on the market made at all of its facilities, including ice cream, frozen yogurt, sherbet and frozen snacks, because they have the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.
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. Three of the five people sickened in Kansas died.
The company still does not know what the source of the contamination might be, but Blue Bell’s president indicated that everything was being done to determine what caused this first product recall in the the company’s 108-year history.
“We’re committed to doing the 100-percent 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, in a 37-second video statement posted Monday on the company’s website.
“We are heartbroken about this situation and apologize to all of our loyal Blue Bell fans and customers,” Kruse said. “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 products being recalled are distributed to retail outlets, including food service 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.
“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, OK, facility will remain closed as Blue Bell continues to investigate.
In addition to the “test and hold” system, Blue Bell plans to implement additional safety procedures and testing including: expanding its system of daily cleaning and sanitizing of equipment, expanding the system of swabbing and testing its plant environment to include more surfaces, sending samples daily to a leading microbiology laboratory for testing, and providing additional employee training.
Blue Bell expects to resume distribution soon on a limited basis once it is confident in the safety of its products. However, the products could be off the market for two to three weeks.
Consumers who have purchased these items are urged to return them to the place of purchase for a full refund. For more information, consumers with questions may call 1-866-608-3940, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. CDT, or go to the company’s website.
Listeria is an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headaches, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.
from Food Safety News » Food Recalls http://ift.tt/1GcSvdt
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