BLUE BELL CREAMERIES TO TEMPORARILY CEASE OPERATIONS

  

The Blue Bell Creameries plant in Brenham, Alabama and Oklahoma will cease operations next week in order to train 800 to 900 employees on new procedures, programs and systems, and is estimated to last through next week, and possibly longer.

According to a news release from Blue Bell, On Monday, April 27, Blue Bell Ice Cream will embark on an intensive cleaning program while it simultaneously conducts a new training program for its employees.

After a thorough review of operations and discussions with an expert microbiologist, it was decided this cleaning and training program will greatly benefit Blue Bell as it moves forward.  Ice cream being produced this week will be used for testing and gathering baseline data and will not be sold to the public.

Training and future improvements at Blue Bell include:

-Highly aggressive cleaning techniques

-Increased actions focused on sanitation and cleanliness

-Strengthening of standard operating procedures

-Enhancements to its preventative maintenance program

-Equipment design changes

“We’ve always worked to make the very highest quality ice cream,” said Blue Bell CEO and President Paul Kruse. “We intend to make a fresh start and that begins with intensive cleaning and enhanced training.  This is a paradigm shifting event at Blue Bell and we want to put in place new systems to drive continuous improvement.”

There has been no timeline for putting ice cream product back on the shelves, after the company pull all of its products off the shelves on Monday evening.

Blue Bell products containing listeria have been linked to three deaths and ten cases of illness.