BLUE BELL: VIRAL “LICKING” VIDEO TAKEN AT LUFKIN WAL-MART

  

Blue Bell reports it has identified the store where a video depicts a woman licking the top of a half-gallon of ice cream and putting it back in the store freezer.

In a statement on its website Wednesday, it said the “malicious act of food tampering” occurred at a Wal-Mart in Lufkin. Blue Bell said its staff recognized the location in the video, and after inspecting the freezer case, found a Tin Roof half-gallon that appeared to have been compromised.

The company said, based on security footage, the location and inspection of the carton, it believes it may have recovered the half-gallon that was tampered with. It said all Tin Roof half-gallons were removed from that location “out of an abundance of caution”.

The Lufkin Police Department is taking over the investigation. In a statement from Lufkin police, they say detectives will work through the holiday on this case.  They say they are attempting to confirm the identity of the female suspect, along with a male seen entering the store with her.  The male is believed to have been behind the camera in the “licking” video.

Once the woman’s identity is verified, police will proceed with getting a warrant for her arrest on a charge of Tampering with a Consumer Product, a second-degree felony.

Blue Bell thanked customers for alerting and informing them of the incident. It did not address several requests on social media to consider adding protective seals to ice cream containers.

In a previous statement, Blue Bell said its half gallons are flipped upside down during production, then sent to a hardening room where the ice cream freezes to the lid. The company said this freezes the lids to the carton, creating a natural seal; therefore, it said, any attempt at opening the product should be noticeable.

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Blue Bell's statement on its website, July 3, 2019:

We have identified a Walmart in Lufkin, Texas, as the store where the malicious act of food tampering took place.  Our staff recognized the location in the video, and we inspected the freezer case.  We found a Tin Roof half gallon that appears to have been compromised.  Based on security footage, the location and the inspection of the carton, we believe we may have recovered the half gallon that was tampered with.  Out of an abundance of caution, we have also removed all Tin Roof half gallons from that location.

The Lufkin Police Department has been notified and is taking over the investigation.

The safety of our ice cream is our highest priority, and we work hard to maintain the highest level of confidence of our customers.  Food tampering is not a joke, and we will not tolerate tampering with our products.  We are grateful to the customers who alerted us and provided us with information.