Blue Bell attempts to pinpoint cause of Listeria contamination

Blue Bell Creameries announced on Tuesday (a day after recalling all its products), that they are getting closer to pinpointing the cause of a deadly Listeria contamination. Amid these efforts, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the number of illnesses associated with the company’s products has increased to ten. A diligent team of microbiologists is collaborating with federal officials at the company’s four facilities in Texas, Oklahoma and Alabama to identify the cause of the Listeria. Blue Bell is also currently working on expanding their cleaning and sanitization system, beefing up employee training, expanding their swabbing system by 800 percent to include more surfaces and is sending samples to a microbiology laboratory for daily testing. Blue Bell, which has been in business for 108 years, also stated that under a new policy, will test all products produced at their facilities before sending them out to retailers. The massive recall (involving about eight million gallons of ice cream products) will take two to three weeks to complete and will be at least that long before the products are back on shelves. It includes ice cream, frozen yogurt, sherbet and frozen snacks distributed in twenty-three states and abroad. Monday’s recall extends to retail stores in: 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 various international locations.