AUSTIN STATESMAN: LISTERIA FOUND AT BLUE BELL IN 2013
The Austin American Statesman is reporting that Listeria bacteria was found in Blue Bell ice cream's Oklahoma plant as far back as March of 2013.
This is according to test results released Thursday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The FDA says Blue Bell continued to ship ice cream produced in that plant, after what the FDA said was inadequate cleaning.
According to the Statesman, FDA inspectors found traces of listeria on a freezer floor in March of 2013 – the first of five such occurrences that year.
Aside from the freezer floor, records show other areas where listeria surfaced were on a pallet jack, a catwalk, half-gallon fillers, a drain and a water hose.
The Statesman reports that 10 samples tested positive in 2014, and listeria was once-again found this year.
Three deaths are now linked to the ice cream, and the company recalled all of its products last month.
The Food and Drug Administration released results of investigations into Blue Bell's plants in Oklahoma, Texas and Alabama.
Blue Bell issued a recall of all its products in late April. The recalls came after the FDA linked 10 listeria cases – including three deaths in Kansas – to Blue Bell products.
In response to the report, Blue Bell issued this statement Thursday afternoon:
“Several swab tests did show the presence of listeria on non-food surfaces in Blue Bell’s Broken Arrow plant in 2013. As is standard procedure for any such positive results, the company would immediately clean the surfaces and swab until the tests were negative. We thought our cleaning process took care of any problems, but in hindsight, it was not adequate, which is why we are currently conducting such a comprehensive re-evaluation of all our operations.”
I hope this is resolved quickly and adequately so the employees can stop stressing about if they will have a job or not. Some of BB employees have been working there for decades and do not know how to do anything but work for BB. I do commend the owners for the pay that they are giving the employees. What other company would do that? I would say not many. Has any of the news media brought that up? I agree that Listeria is a very hardy bacteria but like they said, it didn’t kill those people in Kansas but a contributing factor to persons that were already ill. I know the owners of BB are truly sorry for their loss. I pray for everyone associated to BB from the floor up and the consumers.
@Brenham Resident –
Blue Bell could have been honest and open from the beginning, making the endless stream of negative news stories unnecessary. They could have even come out in better shape from this ordeal because BB is getting a lot of attention. But, sadly, they did nothing to control the message, but only responded to each new claim with a rebuttal that was the equivalent of a footnote in the MSM.
Integrity over pride would have sounded different from “100 years and no recall”, “partial recall but some products are safe”, “100 years and no layoffs” etc. It looks like they tried to hide damaging information, but today’s MSM is going to dig for juicy nuggets on a conservative company, and they found them.
Going forward, I suggest they rebrand with new logos / pictures, and use only real ingredients instead of unpronounceable additives. It’s all the rage nowadays, just look at all the natural peanut butters that weren’t around just two years ago.
I agree with ss, the news media needs to leave Blue Bell alone. Everday you drive by there every Houston station is camped out just waiting for a chance to pounce on a Blue Bell employee. Isn’t there enough crime in Houston to report on????????? I feel sorry for the employees whose salaries are bing cut. That is a devastation to anyone. The news media has done nothing but ruin Blue Bell’s reputation not to mention the city of Brenham. Don’t believe everything the news media reports, they add to and take out of every story they get.. GOD BLESS BLUE BELL
Listeria is very common! If you read the facts, you will see that it’s everywhere. The people that died were likely to have already been sick with something else.
I know this is awful for the people who it directly effected and had people pass away, and for that I am truly sorry…And I personally know that BB is doing everything in their power to make this right…But please pray for my husband and the thousands of BB employees who just found out that their pay and salaries are being cut!! It’s going to be hard to pay our bills when the money just isn’t there anymore! I pray for BB and everyone involved and I hope our little town of Brenham will lift them up in prayer daily…the more people that pray together the better off we will all be! God Bless Blue Bell!!
LISTERIA IS EVERYWHERE. It is in your kitchen. It is in the fanciest of restaurants. It is a bacteria that grows naturally in countless environments. The thing that many people don’t understand is that there are many, many strands of listeria, but only one that causes illness. Finding listeria on the floor, drains, or pipes doesn’t mean it is the same strain of listeria that causes illness. Does anyone remember anything from biology? Bacteria comes in all shapes and sizes, but the presence of the bacteria doesn’t mean anyone is doing any wrong. It appears that as soon as Blue Bell had positive tests for the Listeria THAT ACTUALLY CAUSES HARM, they took the appropriate steps to remedy the issue. It is a GOOD thing that they’re taking the time to appropriately clean and re-vamp the plants. No news source has ever reported an overhaul of these measures ANYWHERE in our nation with food manufacturers dealing with a listeria outbreak, because this overhaul is unprecedented. It will take time, money, and heartbreak to create an environment suitable to the needs of the FDA, State agencies, and consumers. Blue Bell is investing the time, money, and heartbreak. There is no benefit to anyone to continue to report irrelevant information, no matter the news source. As long as Blue Bell is having to spend time commenting on new stories hitting the media, they aren’t able to use that same time to remedy the issue. Give them space to fix the problem.
SS, I agree with you. Blue Bell was unaware of the proper way to clean for Listeria. They have gone above and beyond to figure out the proper way to clean for the bacteria. I encourage others to get educated on Listeria, it’s a bacteria that exists everywhere, even in your own home. The media focuses on the negative in everything. It may have been found back in 2013 & 2014, but the FDA didn’t act like it was too much of a concern either. They suggested a cleaning of the facility, which Blue Bell did. Listeria is uncommon in Ice Cream so Blue Bell and the FDA thought the cleaning would be good enough. Once deaths were likned to the bacteria, then the FDA is more involved and the media is acting like Blue Bell was hiding it. That’s not the case.
Again please educate yourself on the bacteria and don’t believe everything you hear from the media. They get bits and pieces of the truth and compile the negative to make a story. It’s just a matter of time before the bacteria is found elsewhere. Blue Bell is the backbone of this community and they are doing everything possible to turn this thing around. It’s not all about the Ice Cream either. It’s about a company that treats all employees like family and will support the employees and the community by doing whatever it takes. God will see Blue Bell through this and Blue Bell will succeed!!!
The news media need to leave Blue Bell alone and give them time to recover so we can have that wonderful ice cream back in the stores!!!! Blue Bell is a great company that does not deserve all the negative attention they are getting!!
Really SS!! Did you not read the article? They found listeria in the Oklahoma plant in 2013 & 2014! People died….DIED! Don’t tell us to leave poor Blue Bell alone. They knew about that stuff and even admitted to not doing a very good job of cleaning it correctly.
Ew, it was found on non-food sources. As mentioned there is no evidence it was found in food at that time.
Listeria can be found naturally in soil and we can be carriers. It also can survive pasteurization, and has been found before in operating theaters. In fact, that’s how it was discovered (Joseph Lister, who the disease is named after).
To put things in perspective – Blue Bell is NOT the only food company to have an outbreak in the past 5 years. Jensen Farms in Colorado sold tainted cantaloupe in 2011 that killed 33 and sickened 147? There were also six others in that time that sickened and killed by the illness – fewer than Jensen Farms, but still more than Blue Bell.
Yes, what happened with Blue Bell was bad, but you need to understand that the three already had compromised immune systems, so listeria was a factor in their death (not necessarily cause of death). I’m just showing the bigger picture.
You are right – people should ensure that Blue Bell is safe, and that’s what they’re doing. But the misinformation being spewed by media around the country is hindering that path instead of helping them. And given that this company was proactive, people should take that into consideration.
SS, well said mate. Just missing the next 90 days is going to flatten their bill folds. I’m concerned about the loss of revenue for the summer months. Geez, just think, this is going to costs the Kruse’s a fortune. I know them, and they’re upstanding, decent Christian people. They have invested millions into Washington County, as well as contributing to other projects in the city. God Bless Them…………Richard