Blue Bell Reaches $15 Million Settlement over 2015 Listeria Outbreak
According to reporting by Bloomberg News’ Jef Feeley, following the Listeria outbreak of 2015 caused by Blue Bell Creameries, the company has agreed to pay a $15 million settlement instead of going to court. The case, Wenske v. Blue Bell Creameries Inc., was set for court on April 27, 2020, to determine whether the company’s board is at fault for the plant’s insufficient cleanliness that ultimately led to the plant’s Listeria outbreak. A stake holder in the company, Mary Wenske, claims the company ignored reports of “unsanitary practices and conditions” for several years.
The company decided to pay the settlement in order to avoid the “expense, inconvenience, and distraction” that a public trial would bring.
According to the CDC, a Listeria contamination of Blue Bell Creameries in 2015 caused at least 10 reported infections of Listeriosis with 3 deaths. The infections were in Arizona, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, with all deaths being in Kansas.
On April 20, 2015, Blue Bell Creameries recalled all of their products and fully shut down production in its Brenham, Texas, facility. The investigation under the FDA found several troubling food safety violations in the Brenham, Texas faciltiy, which included: (1) traces of Listeria in the Great Divide Bar product and Chocolate Chip Country Cookie, as well as traces inside and outside the freezer tunnel; (2) condensation dripping directly into product containers; (3) improper cleaning of equipment; (4) failure to wear beard coverings; and (5) chipped and cracking paint falling into a blender used to mix ingredients.
Inspections of the Broken Arrow, Oklahoma facility and of the Sylacauga, Alabama facility revealed similar food violations, including traces of Listeria in all plants. Blue Bell chose to abide by state mandates, replacing some machinery and reworking safety procedures to meet sanitation requirements.
The outbreak in 2015 also led to civil litigation by victims.
Some are quick to point out that this has been Blue Bell Creameries’ only food poisoning outbreak in 113 years of business, and there have been no other food poisoning outbreaks linked to Blue Bell Creameries since 2015.
