BRENHAM, Texas, April 20, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Bell Ice
Cream of Brenham, Texas, is
voluntarily 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, 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.
"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. "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 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.
Today's decision was the result of findings from an enhanced
sampling program initiated by Blue Bell which 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 our already robust system of daily cleaning and
sanitizing of equipment
- Expanding our system of swabbing and testing our plant
environment by 800 percent to include more surfaces
- Sending samples daily to a leading microbiology laboratory for
testing
- Providing additional employee training
Blue Bell expects to resume distribution soon on a limited basis
once it is confident in the safety of its product.
For video of CEO and President Paul Kruse, click here.
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 – Friday 8
a.m. – 8 p.m., Saturday
10 a.m. – 2
p.m. CST or go to bluebell.com.
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/blue-bell-creameries-voluntarily-expands-recall-to-include-all-of-its-products-due-to-possible-health-risk-300069051.html
SOURCE Blue Bell Creameries