Blue Bell Ice Cream is recalling 3 ounce institutional/food service ice cream cups because they may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. That brand’s ice cream is linked to a deadly Listeria outbreak in Wichita, Kansas. Five people were sickened and three died after being served Blue Bell ice cream at the Via Christi hospital in Wichita.
On March 22, 2015, the Kansas Department of Health & Environment reported one positive test for Listeria monocytogenes on a chocolate ice cream cup taken from a hospital in Wichita, Kansas. This cup was produced in the Broken Arrow, Oklahoma plant on April 15, 2014. This is a different facility from the one in Brenham, Texas, that produced the ice cream linked to the Kansas outbreak.
These products were sold 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 via food service accounts. They are: Ice Cream Cup Chocolate (3 FL OZ) with SKU #453, Ice Cream Cup Strawberry (3 FL OZ) with SKU #452, and Ice Cream Cup Vanilla (3 FL OZ) with SKU #451. The products have no UPC number. The products all have tab lids. You can see pictures of the recalled products at the FDA site.
No illnesses associated with these recalled products have been reported to date, but listeriosis, the illness caused by this bacteria, can take up to 70 days to appear. If you were served these products in a food service setting such as a school or hospital, monitor yourself for the symptoms of listeriosis for the next 70 days.
Symptoms of Listeria monocytogenes food poisoning include flu-like fever and muscle aches, upset stomach or diarrhea, stiff neck, headache, loss of balance, confusion, and convulsions. Pregnant women may only have a mild illness, but listeriosis can cause stillbirth, miscarriage, and infection in the newborn baby. If you do get sick, see your doctor immediately.
