People in Tennessee who love ice cream may want to avoid purchasing any pints from Blue Bell Creameries on their next shopping trip. Due to concerns over a listeriosis outbreak, the ice cream manufacturer and distributor voluntarily issued a recall of its products on April 20. The company recalled every one of the products that it sells including ice cream, frozen snacks, sherbet and frozen yogurt.
The dangerous product recall stemmed from the results of a test that was conducted by Blue Bell Creameries. During the test, a sample that had been taken from half gallons of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream was found to contain bacteria called Listeria monocytogenes. The contaminated ice cream was produced by Blue Bell Creameries on March 17, 2015 and on March 27, 2015.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a warning to consumers about the contaminated ice cream and advised people not to eat any product produced by Blue Bell Creameries. Eating food that is contaminated by Listeria moncytogenes could cause listeriosis, which is a potentially deadly infection. People who are most at risk for listeriosis are people with compromised immune systems, the elderly, newborns and pregnant women.
A person who has been infected with listeriosis or another dangerous substance after consuming a food product may have a case for filing a personal injury lawsuit against the company that produced the food product. A lawyer may be able to offer assistance to a person in this situation by helping to gather evidence that demonstrates that the illness was linked to a certain contaminated food product.