BLUE BELL INVESTIGATION OVER LISTERIA CONTAMINATION CONCLUDED
The Centers for Disease Control has announced that their investigation of the listeria outbreaks in Blue Bell products have come to an end.
Blue Bell Creameries have given the Food and Drug Administration a detailed list of corrective actions that are underway in response to the agency’s inspection of reports of Blue Bell’s Brenham, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma and Sylacauga, Alabama ice cream production facilities.
The CDC said Wednesday that people should still not eat the recalled ice cream products and that institutions and retailers should not serve or sell the products because "people could continue to get sick."
Blue Bell says they are taking the FDA observations seriously, and according to Blue Bell’s CEO and President Paul Kruse, the company’s highest priority is to produce “safe, wholesome, high-quality products for consumers to enjoy.”
In a Tuesday, June 10th press release, Blue Bell goes on to say the following:
"The company is currently in the process of comprehensively reviewing all aspects of operations at the three facilities. Because listeria is ubiquitous in the environment, the company has adopted a broadly focused remediation plan aimed at confronting any possible sources of contamination.
This process has led Blue Bell to “reassess everything” about its operations and identify a number of enhancements that will be made, including updated environmental and product testing procedures.
The company is focusing on ensuring that all aspects of its facilities and production lines are clean and sanitary, and result in a safe product, Kruse said.
Blue Bell is taking a consistent approach at all of its facilities, and will be using the same standard operating procedures, testing programs, supplier verification procedures, and overall philosophy at the three plants.
“We hope our efforts demonstrate the seriousness with which we are taking this situation, as well as our commitment to making sure we get this right,” Kruse said. “We are committed to seeing this plan through and to working with the FDA each step of the way. Once Blue Bell, the FDA and the applicable state regulators agree we are ready to reintroduce products into commerce, we plan to resume production with a phased-in selection of flavors and sizes, expanding only after our revised programs have demonstrated they are capable of ensuring product safety.”