The CDC posted an article following the April third news that Blue Bell Creameries had voluntarily suspended operations at their Oklahoma production facility. The first recall in the companies 108 year history was issued after testing came back positive for the deadly bacteria Listeria monocytogenes.
Paul Kruse, president and CEO of Blue Bell, released a video statement following the news were he apologized “to all our loyal Blue Bell fans and customers.”
We are heartbroken over this situation and apologize to all our loyal Blue Bell fans and customers. Our entire history has been dedicated to making the highest quality ice cream we possibly could and we’re committed to fixing the problem. Ice cream is a joy and a pleasure to eat. It certainly is for me and I do it everyday and it should never be a cause for concern. And for that, we do apologize and we are going to get it right.
The outbreak was thought to have been an isolated incident, confined to the creameries’ Oklahoma facility, but a later test confirmed the presence of the bacteria at multiple locations which resulted in a 23 state wide recall of all Blue Bell products. As for how the deadly bacteria was introduced to the companies facilities, Kruse says that he “cannot say with certainty” how the bacteria was introduced to their facilities.
At every step, we have made decisions in the best interest of our customers based on the evidence we had available at the time (…) At this point, we cannot say with certainty how Listeria was introduced to our facilities and so we have taken this unprecedented step. We continue to work with our team of experts to eliminate this problem.
The company has issued the following warning for purchasers of Blue Bell products in the following 23 states; 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, Wyoming and international locations.
Anyone who has purchased Blue Bell items should return them to the place of purchase for a full refund. For more information, call Blue Bell at 1-866-608-3940, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or visit the company’s website for more information.
Blue Bell was reported as saying to NBC that their products “two to three weeks at least” until the source of the bacteria is found.
