Blue Bell ice cream recall thrills food sector
As Blue Bell Creameries prepares to resume production of its ice cream after a sweeping recall, its mistakes are fuelling broader rethinking of how to keep ice cream and other foods free of deadly bacteria.
Federal records show that Blue Bell failed to follow practices recommended by government and industry groups that might have prevented listeria contamination of ice cream at all three of its main plants. At the same time, some food-safety professionals say the crisis is indicative of insufficient attention, beyond Blue Bell, of the risks of listeria.
“It’s really been a wake-up call for the food industry, and not just for dairy but for other companies as well who thought they were in good shape but are now asking, could this happen to me,” said Joe Stout, a food-safety consultant who was previously a senior manager at Kraft Foods.
Blue Bell’s recall in April came after health officials tied its ice cream to three deaths at a Kansas hospital since the start of last year, and additional illnesses elsewhere. Inspection records released by the Food and Drug Administration since then show sanitation problems that potentially created refuges for listeria had persisted at Blue Bell since at least 2009. Those lapses came after the FDA issued draft guidance in 2008 highlighting that ice cream and other packaged cold foods could harbour listeria, and recommending measures to control it.
In May, a former-Houston resident sued the company for negligence in US District Court in Austin, Texas, claiming that a severe listeria infection caused by Blue Bell ice cream left him with permanent brain damage and unable to work.
Beginning in 2013, Blue Bell repeatedly found listeria in its Broken Arrow, Oklahoma facility — including on floors, a drain and at equipment that fills half-gallon containers with ice cream — indicating that the company didn’t do enough to identify the underlying cause or eliminate the source, said David Acheson, a food-safety consultant who was previously associate commissioner for foods at the FDA.
“It’s like catching a mouse in a mouse trap, but not going and finding the hole it came in through,” said Martin Bucknavage, a food-safety specialist at Penn State University, after reviewing the FDA reports.
Blue Bell declined to comment. In May, a spokesman said: “We thought our cleaning process took care of any problems, but in hindsight, it was not adequate.”
Additional reporting: Annie Gasparro
Source: The Australian / The Wall Street Journal, Jesse Newman / Annie Gasparro, 3rd August 2015
Originally published as: Blue Bell ice cream recall thrills food sector
