Bad news for Blue Bell ice cream lovers. The company announced some of its products may have been contaminated with Listeria bacteria and consequently issued a voluntary recall for two of their offered flavors: No Egg Cookie Dough and Cookie Two Step.
Listeria monocytogeneses or simply Listeria bacteria can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections to young children and people with weak immune system. Listeria is also known to cause miscarriages and still births to pregnant women, while healthy individuals affected by it can suffer from nausea and fever.
No Incidents Reported From Latest Blue Bell Listeria Scare
According to reports, the affected Blue Bell products were produced in the company's Sylacauga, Alabama plant as they were created using a chocolate chip cookie dough ingredient supplied by Aspen Hills, a third party supplier.
The products were distributed in ten states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
According to the statement of Blue Bell posted on their Facebook page: "No illnesses have been reported to date, but Blue Bell is taking this step because we remain committed to producing a safe, high-quality, great-tasting ice cream for you and your family to enjoy."
Though the Blue Bell's products undergo a test that requires samples of negative tests before they can be displayed and sold on market, the company reportedly just did this precaution step to avoid further damages.
Not The First Time
It can be recalled that a similar incident happened in early 2015, when Blue Bell had a Listeria outbreak and stopped their production. Thanks to Sid Bass, oil millionaire, Blue Bell resumed their production late 2015.
However, Marion Nestle, a professor of Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health at New York University, asked, "You can make a mistake once but for a company to make a mistake twice?" referring to Blue Bell.
Company lawyer Bill Marler negotiated a settlement with a Florida man who got sick after eating Blue Bell ice cream that tested positive for listeria. On Sept. 21, Marler wondered if the supplier, Aspen Hills, is also the one responsible for the "test and hold" method ensuring product safety.
This is not the end for Blue Bell, though. As Marler put it, the company has other "bigger concerns than the lister-bacteria recall."
