Blue Bell added another ice cream product on its recall list after a potential exposure of a three-ounce institutional/food service cup to listeria, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) told AP. Reports said the contaminated product came from the company's plant located in Broken Arrow, Okla. and was delivered to a hospital in Wilchita, Kansas.
Following the incident, the company announced on Monday that the three-ounce cups with flavors of strawberry, vanilla and chocolate are to be recalled. Blue Bell Creameries, however, posted on their website that the list of recalled products does not include ice cream products in half gallons, pints, three gallons, quarts and other three-ounce cups.
"We are devastated and know that Blue Bell has to be and can be better than this," Blue Bell CEO and President Paul Kruse announced in his statement.
He also reiterated about quality and safety being the top priorities of their operations and expressed the company's concern for the consumers that have been affected of the outbreak.
This has been the second recall the ice cream distributor has made within the month after three people had died in the past year from a possible listeria infection from a group of products made from the company's Texas plant.
Five people were originally hospitalized before symptoms of listeriosis were manifested, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Apparently, four of the patients had eaten milkshakes with the ice cream as one of the ingredients.
Symptoms of the listeriosis include muscle aches, fever as well as diarrhea in some cases. Also, people with weak immune systems, the elderly, newborns and pregnant women are the ones most likely to be affected.
Listeriosis, a serious infection caused by eating food contaminated with listeria, primarily affects the elderly, pregnant women, newborns and people with weakened immune systems, according to the CDC.
Meanwhile, Blue Bell urges people who have bought the recalled ice cream products to return these items immediately for their safety.
About 1,600 people get sick from listeria infection in the United States and around 16 percent of these patients die from the illness. CDC calls for action from both institutions and the public to throw these contaminated products, in case they have purchased these ice cream products.