FDA: Blue Bell knew about listeria contamination

[TexasTowelie]

Source: Austin American-Statesman

Listeria was found as far back as 2013 at Blue Bell Creameries’ Broken Arrow, Okla., production facility, according to federal inspection reports released Thursday.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration released the documents after receiving open-records requests from the American-Statesman and several other news outlets.

Inspectors first found traces of listeria on a freezer floor on March 19, 2013 – the first of five occurrences in 2013, records show.

In 2014, 10 samples tested positive. And listeria was once again uncovered in 2015.

Read more: http://www.statesman.com/news/business/fda-blue-bell-knew-about-listeria-contamination/nmBjW/

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The trial lawyers are going to enjoy this revelation.

[CanonRay]

1. Damn gubmint gettin in our bizness

Poking around where they got no right!

[HereSince1628]

2. Listeria is a pretty common finding in dairy environments...

~5 percent of raw milk contains listeria, and listeria that's inside white blood cells can escape pasteurization.

A study of ~700 American dairies found about 2 percent of pasteurized milk was positive for live Listeria.

This makes temperature control a serious issue for processed dairy products.

[NickB79]

18. Agreed. It's more suspicious if a dairy plant reports zero listeria hits

nt.

[PDittie]

3. Blue Bell is history

They're saying six months before they can get product back on grocery shelves.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

5. I really despise their radio ads...

Horrid, generic country music talking about "the good old days".

[tanyev]

4. I'd been feeling sad about this because I grew up near Brenham, TX, but now I'm done.

I also found this:

KRUSE, PAUL
BRENHAM,TX 77833 BLUE BELL CREAMERIES, L.P. 5/12/2014 $5,000 Blue Bell Creameries
KRUSE, PAUL MR
BRENHAM,TX 77833 BLUE BELL CREAMERIES, L.P. 3/4/2013 $5,000 International Dairy Foods Assn
KRUSE, PAUL MR
BRENHAM,TX 77833 BLUE BELL CREAMERIES, L.P. 3/21/2014 $5,000 International Dairy Foods Assn
KRUSE, PAUL
BRENHAM,TX 77833 BLUE BELL CREAMERIES 1/6/2014 $2,600 Centilli, Doug
KRUSE, PAUL WILLIAM MR
BRENHAM,TX 77833 BLUE BELL CREAMERIES LP 12/18/2013 $2,600 Cornyn, John
KRUSE, PAUL WILLIAM MR
BRENHAM,TX 77833 BLUE BELL CREAMERIES LP 12/18/2013 $2,600 Cornyn, John
KRUSE, PAUL MR
BRENHAM,TX 77833 BLUE BELL CREAMERIES 5/9/2014 $2,000 National Republican Congressional Cmte
KRUSE, PAUL
BRENHAM,TX 77833 BLUE BELL ICE CREAM 8/15/2014 $1,000 Oberweis, James D
KRUSE, PAUL
BRENHAM,TX 77833 BLUE BELL CREAMERIES 12/20/2013 $1,000 Scott, David
KRUSE, PAUL
BRENHAM,TX 77833 BLUE BELL CREAMERIES 11/1/2014 $1,000 Sessions, Pete
KRUSE, PAUL MR
BRENHAM,TX 77833 BLUE BELL CREAMERIES 9/30/2013 $1,000 Cruz, Ted
KRUSE, PAUL MR
BRENHAM,TX 77833 BLUE BELL CREAMERIES L.P. 6/30/2014 $1,000 Flores, Bill
KRUSE, PAUL MR
BRENHAM,TX 77833 BLUE BELL CREAMERIES L.P. 9/13/2013 $1,000 Flores, Bill
KRUSE, PAUL MR
BRENHAM,TX 77833 BLUE BELL CREAMERIES 9/9/2014 $1,000 Jobs, Growth & Freedom Fund
KRUSE, PAUL MR
BRENHAM,TX 77833 BLUE BELL CREAMERIES 7/24/2014 $1,000 McCaul, Michael
KRUSE, PAUL MR
BRENHAM,TX 77833 BLUE BELL CREAMERIES 9/5/2013 $1,000 McCaul, Michael
KRUSE, PAUL
BRENHAM,TX 77833 BLUE BELL CREAMERIES 6/30/2014 $500 Fleischmann, Chuck

https://www.opensecrets.org/usearch/?q=paul+kruse&cx=010677907462955562473%3Anlldkv0jvam&cof=FORID%3A11


Should've known.

[Dont call me Shirley]

7. Thanks for posting. I hope they go down!

[underpants]

11. Yes they are very old type conservatives

[blm]

6. That's why the TeaBag OWNERS of Blue Bell support GOP efforts to DEREGULATE

GOP: Deregulate, deregulate, deregulate!

[n2doc]

8. Time to die, Blue Bell

Too bad the people making the decisions are shielded from the lawsuits.

[itsrobert]

9. When I lived in Texas, all I heard how great Blue Bell is

So I tried it. Bargain brand Ice Cream at best. Nothing Special. Tillamook Ice Cream from Oregon is much better.

[dixiegrrrrl]

12. They started using HFCS instead of sugar.

My hips don't need their product..
I would rather spring for a pint of Haagen Daz when appie season comes around.

[valerief]

10. If only babies had guns, listeria would never happen.

NRA logic.

[Aerows]

13. This does not surprise me.

As a company, I think they are pretty much done.

[TexasTowelie]

15. Yes, they were paying their employees during this shutdown

but with this news and the likelihood that they won't be able to get their product back into grocery freezers until after the summer I don't know how they will stay in business. There are going to be a lot of people in the Brenham area that will lose their jobs and they are the largest employer in town. My brother and other family members encouraged me to apply for a job at the creamery when I lived there in 2012 and 2013. I'm glad that I didn't make any plans to live there and that we managed to get my father's house sold while the real estate market was relatively hot.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

14. A coworker from Texas raved about Blue Bell... was it all that?

My local Kroger carries (carried?) it but I never gave it a try because the flavor combos never seemed that appealing to me.

[TexasTowelie]

16. Until I moved to Brenham

I generally bought Haagen-Dazs because it seemed like Blue Bell ended up getting freezer burn faster than either HD or B&J. There are a few interesting combos that I liked such as the Blackberry Cobbler, but for right now I'm buying the H-E-B brand and it is just as good and 80 cents cheaper for a half-gallon.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

17. I think that was it... I'm not big on fruity ice cream.

Freezer burn? What's that? Mine never lasts long enough to get burned!