Advertisement

Blue Bell ice cream back on shelves after listeria outbreak

By Andrew V. Pestano
Blue Bell ice cream continues to make huge impact on customers at the King Soopers supermarket in Lakewood, Colorado on June 20, 2012. UPI/Gary C. Caskey
Blue Bell ice cream continues to make huge impact on customers at the King Soopers supermarket in Lakewood, Colorado on June 20, 2012. UPI/Gary C. Caskey | License Photo

BRENHAM, Texas, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- Blue Bell made its official comeback on Monday when its the first shipment of ice cream was delivered in Texas following troublesome months after a listeria outbreak.

An HEB grocery store in Brenham, Texas, received the first shipment. Blue Bell ice cream will be initially sold in markets in Brenham, Houston and Austin, as well as in Birmingham and Montgomery, Ala., where the ice cream is being made.

Advertisement

No other information has been released about when customers in other regions will be able to buy the ice cream because the product release will be "based on product availability and when [the company] can properly service the customers in an area," Blue Bell said. Future markets include Oklahoma, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia and others.

Blue Bell will only sell four flavors for now: Homemade Vanilla, Dutch Chocolate, Cookies and Cream and the popular The Great Divide.

Blue Bell announced changes in procedures and employee training, including "increased focus on sanitation and cleaning" and the application of "an independent microbiology expert for ongoing evaluation of our procedures and facilities."

The company will also implement a procedure where ice creams will be tested and held until results are received before being sent to market.

Advertisement

Brenham residents are up early this morning to get their Blue Bell fix! #bluebellisback

A photo posted by Blue Bell (@bluebellicecream) on

Blue Bell had voluntarily recalled its ice cream products in April after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention linked the company's products to an outbreak of listeria that killed three in Kansas and left several others ill throughout Kansas and Texas.

Listeria is a virus that lives in cool, wet environments. Though it is typically harmless to healthy people, it poses a threat to pregnant women, newborns, older adults and individuals with weak immune systems.

Advertisement

The recall had a devastating effect on the 108-year-old company, which was also the third-biggest U.S. ice cream producer. The company was forced to lay off 37 percent of its 3,900 workers in May and warned shareholders that it may have to close.

Danielle Haynes contributed to this report.

Latest Headlines

Advertisement

Trending Stories

Advertisement

Follow Us

Advertisement