Last week, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) revealed that Listeria had been found in 10 environmental swabs and samples from 16 different flavors of ice cream at Big Olaf Creamery's production plant in Sarasota, FL. The samples were collected after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on July 2 that epidemiological evidence identified the ice cream as the source of a Listeria outbreak that has sickened 23 people over an 18-month period. One of the patients died and another suffered a miscarriage. Presented with that information, Big Olaf declined to issue a recall. Then a spokesperson for the company issued a statement that deemed the epidemiological information "speculative" and wondered why the company was being unfairly … [Read more...]
Big Olaf Who? Amid Outbreak Shops Ditch Ice Cream, Branding
For Big Olaf, the break-ups came quickly but not all at once. And not all of them quietly. In the two and half weeks since Big Olaf ice cream was linked to a deadly Listeria outbreak, licensed shops throughout Florida started switching to new suppliers. One owner has permanently changed the names of the two stores she operates. Although Listeria isn't as common as other foodborne pathogens. It is the most deadly. And it targets pregnant women, who can suffer a miscarriage or stillbirth if they develop an infection. "Five of the patients in this outbreak are women who contracted listeriosis while they were pregnant," said Eric Hageman, a Listeria lawyer, and Food Poisoning Bulletin Publisher. Hageman has extensive experience with Listeria lawsuits including one filed on behalf of a … [Read more...]
Royal Ice Cream Recalls All Products For Possible Listeria Contamination
The Royal Ice Cream Company is expanding its February 7, 2022 recall of Batch Ice Cream products to include all of its ice cream products within expiration dates because of possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination. No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with the consumption of these products. All of these products have the manufacturing plant numbers "CT121" or "CT#121" stamped on the label. These brands were all manufactured at the Royal Ice Cream Company plant in Manchester, Connecticut. The ice cream was sold at the retail level in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New York, Louisiana, Florida, Texas, and New Hampshire. No product photos were provided, except for the previous recall. The recalled items are: Batch brand pints, all … [Read more...]
Purple Cow Ice Cream Recalled for Undeclared Nuts
House of Flavors Inc. is recalling Purple Cow Limited Edition Cookie Butter Ice Cream sold at Meijer stores, in 8 oz cups because it contains undeclared nuts. The recalled ice cream actually contains Purple Cow Butter Pecan Ice Cream and has a Purple Cow Butter Pecan lid. Consumers who may have an allergy or sensitivity to nuts should not eat this ice cream as they run the risk of potentially life-threatening allergic reaction if they do.For consumers who are not allergic to nuts, there is no safety issue with this product. The recalled product has the UPC 13733 61945 and was sold at at Meijer stores in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. At the time of the recall, the company had received one complaint but no reports of illnesses. House of Flavors and … [Read more...]
Blue Bell Workers Blow the Whistle on Management
A report agreeing with the FDA report on Blue Bell Ice cream factory conditions aired on CBS News last night, revealing that former Blue Bell Ice Cream workers said management allegedly ignored complaints about unsanitary conditions in the factory in Texas. Blue Bell ice cream was linked to a multistate, deadly Listeria monocytogenes outbreak earlier this year. In that outbreak, at least ten people in four states were sickened and three people died. Blue Bell had to recall millions of gallons of ice cream and all of its plants were shut down for months. One of the former workers told CBS news that "A lot of times when I walked in there was just ice cream all over the floor. Sometimes the machines would just go haywire, the product would just continually run through the conveyor belt … [Read more...]
Jeni’s Traces Listeria Problem to One Ice Cream Machine
Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream has traced the source of Listeria problems at its Columbus, Ohio manufacturing facility to one machine used to fill pints, according to the latest update on the company's website. On April 23, the company recalled all of its ice cream after a sample tested positive for Listeria. The machine was not used to fill buckets for the company's ice cream shops, but all the ice cream made prior to the discovery of Listeria will still be destroyed, said CEO John Lowe in the update. "We’ll never be 100% certain how Listeria got onto the machine. Our job now is to rework our production kitchen into a facility that provides the best defenses against any contamination, and we have enlisted some of the world’s top food safety experts to help in that effort," said Lowe, in … [Read more...]
Jeni’s Up-Front About $2.5 Million Listeria Recall
Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream is keeping cutomers informed and employees partially compensated as it grapples with a $2.5 million Listeria recall. After Listeria was found in a pint of dark chocolate ice cream last week, The company's CEO John Lowe has been posting updates on the company's website. At the time of the recall, no illnesses had been reported in association with the products, but the recall comes at a time when ice cream made by another company, Blue Bell, has. In mid-March, After Listeria in its ice cream was linked to illnesses and deaths, Blue Bell recalled some of its ice cream and then expanded the recall, twice. Jeni's recalled all of its ice cream and stopped making more after one pint tested positive for Listeria. Lowe says no one should be eating any flavor of … [Read more...]
After Listeria Recall, Jeni’s Ice Cream CEO Gives Update
After the April 23 recall of all of its products for possible Listeria contamination, Jeni's Splendid Ice cream has posted an update from its CEO, John Lowe, on its website. At this time, no illnesses have been associated with Jeni's ice cream products. The company set up a communications center at its home office that will be taking calls through the evenings over the weekend and during normal business hours starting Monday. The center is staffed by Jeni’s employees who normally work in sales, marketing, finance and operations. By Friday afternoon, they'd handled 600 calls and emails. The company is trying to find the source of the problem and fix it by working with "more than 10 top scientists—from sanitation experts to dairy processing experts. We are working with third party … [Read more...]
Blue Bell Ice Cream Back in Some Stores After Listeria Outbreak
Blue Bell ice cream Listeria recalls prompted many retailers across the U.S. to completely remove the brand from store shelves, but now the recalls are giving way to restocking decisions. Among the first companies to return shelf space to Blue Bell is San Antonio-based H-E-B Grocery Stores. A spokesperson for the chain of more than 350 stores told KTRK-TV that a gradual return has begun. Leslie Sweet of H-E-B said Blue Bell is a brand Texans know and love, but the grocery company had to stay true to its commitment to safe food when it removed the ice cream last month during a series of three different recalls by Blue Bell. The recalls were associated with deepening links between Blue Bell ice cream products and two clusters of listeriosis -- the first in Kansas and the second identified … [Read more...]
Dallas County Health Agency Issues Listeriosis Advisory in Texas
Three cases of listeriosis in Texas have been confirmed to be part of a multistate outbreak of Listeria illnesses related to Blue Bell ice cream products. That linkage has prompted a health advisory to the Dallas County medical community. The Texas Listeria advisory was issued by the Dallas County Health and Human Services agency to heighten awareness of the outbreak. The identical strain of Listeria monocytogenes that recently killed three hospital patients in Wichita, Kansas, also sickened three people in Texas between 2011 and 2014, the FDA has said. “While we have not received any reports of cases in Dallas County related to Blue Bell ice cream products, DCHHS is monitoring the situation to ensure we are abreast of any information related to this outbreak,” said Zachary Thompson, … [Read more...]
