Blue Bell Recall Issued After Illnesses, Three Deaths

March 14, 2015

Officials are investigating an outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes infections (listeriosis) linked to certain Blue Bell products. Five people have been hospitalized with three deaths reported.

Blue Bell Creameries reports that it has removed the affected ice cream products from the market, but some products may remain in the freezers of consumers. If these ice cream products are in your freezer, they should be thrown away, even if some of them have been eaten without anyone becoming ill.

The recalled products include Blue Bell Chocolate Chip Country Cookie, Great Divide Bar, Sour Pop Green Apple Bar, Cotton Candy Bar, Scoops, Vanilla Stick Slices, Almond Bars, 6-pack Cotton Candy Bars, 6-pack Sour Pop Green Apple Bars and 12-pack No Sugar Added Mooo Bars.

The regular Mooo Bars, which were available at grocery stores, are not subject to recall. The recall includes only the products listed above and does not include Blue Bell cups, pints, half gallons, three gallons or the company’s other frozen snack novelties. This was the first recall in the company’s 108-year history.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, five patients who were treated in a single hospital in Kansas were infected with one of four rare strains of Listeria monocytogenes. Three of these strains, which are highly similar, have also been found in products manufactured at the Blue Bell Creameries production facility in Brenham, TX.

The FDA was notified that these three strains and four other rare strains of Listeria monocytogenes were found in samples of Blue Bell Creameries single serving Chocolate Chip Country Cookie Sandwich and the Great Divide Bar ice cream products collected by the South Carolina Department of Health & Environmental Control during routine product sampling at a South Carolina distribution center, on February 12, 2015. These products are manufactured at Blue Bell Creameries’ Brenham facility.

The Texas Department of State Health Services, subsequently, collected product samples from the Blue Bell Creameries Brenham facility. These samples yielded Listeria monocytogenes from the same products tested by South Carolina and a third single-serving ice cream product, Scoops, which is also made on the same production line.

Comments

3 Responses to “Blue Bell Recall Issued After Illnesses, Three Deaths”

  1. JT on March 15th, 2015 7:11 pm

    I’ll take my chances.

  2. Bamamama on March 14th, 2015 4:31 pm

    Heard this on the Today Show this morning, but they didn’t list the items involved in the recall. Thanks William for listing them, as I had just bought their ice cream sandwiches, which luckily is not on the recall list!!

  3. Mike on March 14th, 2015 6:08 am

    Thank goodness, regular MooBars were not on the list, whew! My favorite, don’t ya know! :)

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News