BRENHAM, Texas (AP) — Texas-based Blue Bell Creameries issued a voluntary recall Monday night for all of its products on the market after two samples of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream tested positive for listeria, a potentially deadly bacteria.
The company “cannot say with certainty” how the bacteria was introduced to its facilities, Blue Bell’s chief executive Paul Kruse said in a statement. Blue Bell issued the recall that includes ice cream, frozen yogurt, sherbet and frozen snacks distributed in 23 states and international locations because other products “have the potential to be contaminated,” according to the statement.
“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,” Kruse said.
The first recall in the family-owned creamery’s 108-year history was issued last month after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention linked ice cream contaminated with listeria to three deaths at a Kansas hospital. Five others in Kansas and Texas were sickened with listeriosis, which can cause fever, muscle aches, gastrointestinal symptoms.
The illness was tracked to a production line in Brenham, Texas, and later to a second line in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. The most recently contaminated samples were discovered through a testing program the company initiated after its first recall, according to the statement.
Monday’s recall extends to retail outlets 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.
The manufacturing facility in Oklahoma where operations were suspended earlier this month for sanitizing will remain closed as Blue Bell continues to investigate the source of the bacteria, the statement said.
Blue Bell is implementing a process to test all of its products before releasing them to the market, with plans to resume limited distribution soon.
The company said it is also expanding its cleaning and sanitization system, beefing up its employee training, expanding its swabbing system by 800 percent to include more surfaces and is sending daily samples to a microbiology laboratory for testing.
Listeria primarily affects pregnant women and their newborns, older adults and people with immune systems weakened by cancer, cancer treatments, or other serious conditions.
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Blue Bell officials released a statement that reads:
Blue Bell has recalled all of its products currently on store shelves nationwide due to the potential they may be contaminated with listeria.
Texas grocery stores, including Albertsons, Tom Thumb, Randalls and Kroger, began pulling all Blue Bell ice cream products Monday.
In a statement posted to the company’s website, Blue Bell said the recall was based on test results that showed half-gallons of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream produced at the Brenham, Texas, plant on March 17, 2015, and March 27, 2015, contained the bacteria.
Blue Bell operates three plants – Brenham; Broken Arrow, Okla.; and Sylacauga, Ala. – and the Oklahoma plant was closed last month after tests showed listeria contamination there.
A Blue Bell spokesman told NBC 5 the company thought the bacteria was isolated at the Oklahoma plant, but these new tests came back positive at the Brenham plant.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported earlier this month that three people in Texas had the same strain of listeria bacteria linked to some Blue Bell ice cream products from the Oklahoma plant previously found in five others at a Wichita, Kansas, hospital. Three of the five in Kansas died. That prompted the first recall in the family-owned creamery’s 108-year history.
The company said Monday’s nationwide recall includes products 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.
Blue Bell said the products will be off store shelves for “two to three weeks at least” until the source of the bacteria is found.
Listeria generally only affects the elderly, people with compromised immune systems and pregnant women. It can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, premature labor, and serious illness or death in newborn babies. Healthy, younger adults and most children can usually consume listeria with no ill effects or mild illness, such as fever, muscle aches and gastrointestinal symptoms.
Anyone who has purchased these items should return them to the place of purchase for a full refund. For more information, call Blue Bell at 1-866-608-3940, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or go to bluebell.com.