Blue Bell Creameries Again Issues Recall Over Listeria

Texas-based Blue Bell Creameries has issued a voluntary recall of two flavors of its ice cream over concerns of possible listeria contamination.

The recalled products were produced in its Sylacauga, Alabama, plant.

The recall came late Wednesday afternoon from the company headquarters in Brenham, Texas.  The Blue Bell Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Blue Bell Two Step flavors in gallon containers are being recalled. The Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream in pint packaging is also being recalled.

This recall covers the following products:

The company stated the reason for the recall is a possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination of the chocolate chip cookie dough ingredient that was purchased from a third party suppler, Aspen Hills, Inc. Blue Bell Creameries issued the following statement of concern:

Listeria monocytogenes which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

Blue Bell discovered the “potential problem” through its intensified testing program developed after a previous contamination shut down the company’s entire production line last year. No illnesses have been reported to date. The voluntary recall was issued despite the fact that all of its products passed the product sampling tests.

“Blue Bell is initiating this recall out of an abundance of caution,” officials stated.

Blue Bell famously suffered its first-ever recall following a listeria contamination in March 2015. Breitbart Texas reported extensively on the recall that eventually shut down the company’s entire production lines for five months. The company is still recovering from the losses experienced. The recall initially impacted only a small number of its industrial/commercial product lines. It eventually expanded to include all of the Blue Bell products.

This is the second voluntary recall by a food company this week. The Kellogg Company announced Tuesday evening a recall of one line of its Eggo^® Nutri-Grain^® Whole Wheat Waffles after discovering the batch may have been contaminated by the Listeria monocytogenes bacteria, Breitbart Texas reported.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.