Blue Bell Creameries Expands Ice Cream Recall
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Marzia Giacobbe/iStock/Thinkstock(BRENHAM, Texas) – Blue Bell Creameries said on Tuesday it is expanding the recall of products produced at its Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, manufacturing plant where ice cream contaminated with a deadly strain of listeria was traced last month.
The company announced on its website the recall now includes Banana Pudding Ice Cream pints that tested positive for listeria, and additional products manufactured on the same line.
The products being recalled were 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, and Wyoming.
The company said the items have the potential to be harmful to young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. No illnesses have been confirmed to date from the recently recalled products.
Last week, Blue Bell Creameries voluntarily suspended operations the Oklahoma plant to inspect the facility. The company announced in a statement that it was taking the action out of an “abundance of caution” to determine what caused the initial contamination.
After eating ice cream products from Blue Bell Creamery at a hospital in Wichita, Kansas between January 2014 and January 2015, five people were sickened. Three of the patients who were sickened at the Wichita hospital later died, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced last month.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also issued a warning last week, recommending that people not eat any Blue Bell products made at the Oklahoma production facility.
A full list of the recalled items is available on Blue Bell’s website.
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