Blue Bell Ice Cream Recall Extended To Caribbean Region Due to Potential Contamination

BRENHAM, USA -- On Monday, Blue Bell Creameries of Brenham, Texas, voluntarily expanded its recall to include all of its products currently on the market because they have the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

This recall includes ice cream, frozen yogurt, sherbet and frozen snacks made at all Blue Bell facilities. The recalled products have been distributed internationally to several countries in the Caribbean region, including Anguilla, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Haiti, St Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago and Turks and Caicos Islands.

Consumers should not eat any of the recalled products. If these products are in your freezer, they should be thrown away or returned, even if some of them have been eaten without anyone becoming ill.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported that, as of Monday, a total of ten patients infected with several strains of Listeria monocytogenes were reported from four states: Arizona (1), Kansas (5), Oklahoma (1), and Texas (3). Illness onset dates ranged from January 2010 through January 2015. All ten patients were hospitalized. Three deaths were reported from Kansas within the last year. Three strains associated with these case patients have been identified in products manufactured at either the Blue Bell production facility in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, or Brenham, Texas.

Listeriosis is a rare but serious illness caused by eating food contaminated with the bacteria called Listeria monocytogenes. Anyone who experiences fever and muscle aches, sometimes preceded by diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms, or develops fever and chills after eating the ice cream should seek medical care and tell their health care provider about any history of eating the ice cream. Symptoms can appear from a few days up to a few weeks after consumption of the contaminated food.

Listeriosis can be fatal, especially in certain high-risk groups. These groups include the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems and certain chronic medical conditions (such as cancer). In pregnant women, listeriosis can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, premature labor, and serious illness or death in newborn babies.