Blue Bell Recalls More Listeria Linked Items, Company is Still Trying to Pinpoint Cause

An outbreak of listeria linked to Blue Bell ice cream products has been going on quietly for as long as five years, federal health officials said Tuesday. The Listeria outbreak has spread to four states, sickening 10 people and killing three. In addition to Kansas and Texas, illnesses have now been reported from Oklahoma and Arizona.

Blue Bell has recalled all of its products currently on the market. Consumers who have Blue Bell ice cream in their freezers should not eat it as it may be contaminated with Listeria.

Texas-based Blue Bell Creameries said Tuesday, a day after recalling all its products, that it is getting closer to pinpointing the cause of the contamination.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that the number of illnesses linked to the company's products has increased to 10.

"As each day passes, we are getting closer and closer to figuring out how this listeria was introduced into our facilities. ... It's a matter of doing the work and not making excuses," said Blue Bell spokesman Joe Robertson. He said consumers "are our No. 1 concern."

So far, all 10 of the people identified as case patients in this outbreak contracted Listeria infections from ice cream they were served while hospitalized for unrelated illnesses. The newly reported cases occurred in January 2010 and March 2012.

Listeria primarily affects pregnant women and their newborns, older adults and people with immune systems weakened by cancer, cancer treatments, or other serious conditions.

The company had 6.4 percent of the U.S. ice cream market in 2014, with $881.8 million in sales, ranking it third in the country, according to market-research firm Euromonitor. Robertson said Blue Bell is not laying off any of its 3,800 employees, as all of them will be needed to help with the recall.