The Blue Bell Listeria outbreak is another example of how dangerous bacteria such as Listeria and E.coli can survive freezing temperatures. Rare strains of Listeria in Blue Bell ice cream served to patients at Via Christi hospital in Wichita gave five of them listeriosis. Three people died. The source of the outbreak was traced to a machine at the company's Brenham, Texas facility that produced single serving ice cream treats such as ice cream bars, sandwiches and individually packaged scoops of ice cream. Many of the potentially contaminated products were distributed for use in food service, which was also the case with another frozen food outbreak. in 2013. An E. coli outbreak linked to Farm Rich frozen products sickened 35 people in 19 states in 2013. Most of them were under … [Read more...]
Blue Bell Listeria Ice Cream Products Sold to Consumers Too
Some of the media reports about recalled Listeria contaminated Blue Bell Creameries ice cream, that sickened at least five people in Wichita, Kansas stated that the products made on the suspect line were only sold to food service facilities at institutions. But two retailers have recalled Blue Bell products: Kroger and Target. Consumers should check their freezers to see if they have any of the recalled ice cream products. The people sickened in this outbreak were at the Via Christi Hospital in Wichita, Kansas. Three of the five patients have died, according to the CDC and the Kansas Department of health. The Listeria strains in this particular outbreak are very rare. The recalled Kroger products are Chocolate Chip Country Cookie SKU # 196, Great Divide Bar SKU #108, Sour Pop Green … [Read more...]
How Does Listeria Get Into Ice Cream?
The deadly Listeria monocytogenes outbreak that has killed three people in Kansas has been linked to Blue Bell ice cream. When most people think of food poisoning, they think of undercooked or raw meat or eggs. How does a supposedly innocuous product like ice cream become contaminated with pathogenic bacteria? Listeria monocytogenes bacteria are everywhere in our environment. These bacteria live in soil and water. Animals carry the bacteria and can transfer it to our food though feces, through dirty irrigation water, and in food harvesting and transport. All bacteria love food because it's a great source of nutrients. Listeria monocytogenes bacteria are unique in that they can grow at refrigerator and even freezer temperatures. In fact, the longer a food contaminated with this … [Read more...]
Mooo Bars Recall
February 2017 Breaking News: MOOO Restaurant in the XV Beacon Hotel in Boston Possible Source of Salmonella Outbreak The law firm Pritzker Hageman is representing a man who was diagnosed with a Salmonella infection after eating at the MOOO…. (ellipses are part of the name) restaurant located in the XV Beacon Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts. This outbreak is not connected to the Target recall of Mooo Bars, but search engines are sending people with questions about this outbreak to this article. We thought it best to provide information about the MOOO.... Restaurant outbreak here. Target Recall (Not Related to the Outbreak Discussed Above) Target is recalling Blue Bell No Sugar Added Mooo Bars for potential Listeria contamination. The recall stems from a Listeria outbreak linked to … [Read more...]
Listeria Warning: Check Your Freezer for Recalled Blue Bell Ice Cream
A deadly outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes linked to ice cream produced at the Blue Bell facility Brenham, Texas has prompted the recall of several Blue Bell products. Five people at the Via Christi Hospital in Wichita, Kansas were sickened after they ate Blue Bell ice cream and milkshakes made with that ice cream. Three of those people died. Investigations by public health officials discovered rare strains of Listeria monocytogenes in samples of Blue Bell Creameries single serving Chocolate Chip Country Cookie Sandwich and the Great Divide Bar ice cream products at a Blue Bell South Carolina distribution center in February 2015. These products were manufactured at the Brenham, Texas facility. Inspections at that facility found the outbreak strains of Listeria monocytogenes in the same … [Read more...]
People From Five Kansas Counties Hit With Listeria in Past Year
Residents from five Kansas counties have been hit with Listeria food poisoning since January 2014, including five Kansans believed to be sickened by contaminated Blue Bell ice cream served at Via Christi St. Francis Hospital in Wichita. The statistics from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment don't reveal names or hometowns of those who became ill, nor would the agency say which of the six listeriosis patients from the five counties are considered victims of the Blue Bell/Via Christi outbreak. Of the six Kansas listeriosis patients, two are from Sedgwick County, which is dominated by the Wichita area. One each is from Harvey (county seat is Newton, Kansas); Wyandotte (county seat is Kansas City); Shawnee (county seat is Topeka, Kansas) and Ford (county seat is Dodge City, … [Read more...]
Listeria Outbreak Prompts Kroger to Pull Blue Bell Products
Kroger has pulled recalled Blue Bell products from its stores after they were linked to a Listeria outbreak that sickened five people at Via Christi hospital in Wichita. The company is also using its recall notification system to warn customers of the problem. Between January 2014 and January 2015, five patients at Via Christi contracted listeriosis from contaminated Blue Bell ice cream they were served while hospitalized for unrelated illnesses. Although the first case occurred during January 2014, the outbreak was not discovered until this month when health officials noticed that two people sickened with the rare outbreak strain had both been Via Christi patients. Lab tests have shown that the rare Listeria strains cultured from the five patients at Via Christi are a match to … [Read more...]
Blue Bell Halts Production of Line Linked to Listeria Outbreak
Blue Bell has halted production of ice cream products linked to a Listeria outbreak that sickened five patients at Via Christi hospital in Wichita killing three of them. Most of the products in question were distributed to food service operations rather than retail stores, the company's CEO Paul Kruse has said in interviews. After Listeria was discovered in Blue Bell products during routine testing by South Carolina's department of health in February, the problem was traced back to Blue Bell's facility in Brenham, Texas. The specific source of contamination was traced to a machine that creates ice cream bars, sandwiches and single scoops, Kruse told ABC News. The machine wasn't properly sanitized, he told KAKE.com. It is not currently in use, he said. The Texas Department of … [Read more...]
Blue Bell Had Trouble With Ice Cream Line Before Listeria Discovery
The maker of Blue Bell ice cream shut down its Scoops production line even before South Carolina health inspectors discovered Listeria in products from the same line, the company's CEO has said in two separate interviews about a deadly Kansas listeriosis outbreak associated with Scoops. Blue Bell CEO Paul Cruse told The Houston Chonicle in a March 13 story that the machine utilized to make Scoops and other single-serve items had not been in operation for about a month and a half. That means the shutdown occurred days if not weeks before February 12, when the South Carolina Department of Health & Environmental Control first detected Listeria monocytogenes in two types of Blue Bell products made on the same line. The checks were part of routine inspections of food products at a … [Read more...]
Two Ice Cream Listeria Outbreaks in Three Months
In the last three months, there have been two Listeria outbreaks linked to ice cream: the Blue Bell Listeria outbreak at Via Christi hospital in Wichita and the Snoqualmie ice cream outbreak in Seattle. The Blue Bell outbreak took place over a 12-month period starting in January 2014, but was only discovered recently. Five people hospitalized at Via Christi for unrelated illnesses during 2014 all contracted Listeria infections from Blue Bell ice cream they were served. Three people died. Blue Bell withdrew products from the market and ceased production on the line associated with the problem. However, public health officials urge consumers to check their freezers for products potentially contaminated with Listeria. They include: Chocolate Chip Country Cookie SKU # 196, Great Divide Bar … [Read more...]
