Blue Bell Issues an Expanded Texas Ice Cream Recall
Texas ice cream giant Blue Bell Creameries has decided to expand its voluntary recall of a number of its products after some pints of banana pudding ice cream tested positive for Listeriosis. As a precaution, in addition to the banana pudding flavor ice cream, they’ve decided to pull a number of other products manufactured on the same line at their plant in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.
The updated recall affects the following products, which can be identified as products produced at Oklahoma by the code date printed on the bottom of the carton
- Ice Cream Banana Pudding pints, coded 021217S
- Ice Cream Butter Crunch pints, coded 021917S
- Ice Cream Mint Chocolate Chip pints, coded 022017S
- Ice Cream Cookies ‘n Cream pints, coded 030317S or 030617S
- Ice Cream Homemade Vanilla pints, coded 030417S
- Ice Cream Dutch Chocolate pints, coded 032317S
- Ice Cream Moo-llennium Crunch pints, coded 032417S or 032517S
- Rainbow Sherbet pints, coded 021717S, 021817S, 022317S or 030217S
- Orange Sherbet quarts, coded 032617S
- Mixed Berry Sherbet quarts, coded 032717S
- 3 ounce Tab Lid Cups of Rainbow Sherbet: Product # 136, which were manufactured and packaged for Institutional / food service cup only, coded 022417S, 022617S or 022717S
- Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream, Gold Rim half gallons, coded 030917T, 031017T, 031117T, 031217T, 031717T, 031717T or 031817T
- Pistachio Almond Ice Cream Brown Rim half gallons, coded 031317T
- Homemade Vanilla Light Ice Cream half gallons, coded 031917T
According to a notice from the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA), these products were distributed to a number of retail outlets, including food service accounts, convenience stores and supermarkets in a number of states, including Texas. So far, according to the FDA, there have been no confirmed illnesses to date.
Blue Bell has been issuing recalls on various products for weeks now, and on April 3, the company voluntarily suspended operations at the Oklahoma plant, so that the plant could be thoroughly inspected and cleaned. The next day, the company began working with retailers to remove products that may have been contaminated. These actions were triggered after a routine test of a 3 oz. institutional/food service chocolate cup tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes.
Then, yesterday, the FDA notified the company that a pint package of Banana Pudding Ice Cream, which was produced in the Broken Arrow plant, had also tested positive. That is what triggered the recall expansion to all products made on that particular production line between February 12 and March 27.
Exposure to Listeria can have serious consequences for small children, the elderly and, especially, pregnant women. Those who contract Listeriosis may experience muscle aches, fever, nausea or severe diarrhea, which can occur anywhere from a few days to eight weeks after exposure. In some extreme cases, Listeriosis can negatively impact the central nervous system, leading to loss of motor control or convulsions. Pregnant women who consume Listeria-contaminated food have a far greater risk of miscarriage or stillbirth, and they may pass Listeriosis on to their newborn child, for whom the illness is fatal 25-50 percent of the time.
Those consumers who have purchased any of the items subject to the recall are being asked to return them to the store for a full refund.
If you or a loved one has eaten one of these products and become sick, you should get medical help as soon as possible. If the diagnosis is a foodborne illness of any kind, please contact the Texas Food Contamination Injury Lawyer at Hill Law Firm immediately to protect your rights.