![]() Additional positive test results ultimately led Blue Bell to recall all ice cream products in April 2015.īlue Bell pleaded guilty in a related case in May to two counts of distributing adulterated food products in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Subsequent tests confirmed Listeria contamination in a product made at another Blue Bell facility in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, which resulted in a second recall announcement on March 23, 2015. The FDA, CDC, and Blue Bell issued public recall notifications on March 13, 2015. District Court for the Western District of Texas, further alleges that March 2015 tests conducted by the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) linked the strain of Listeria in one of the Blue Bell ice cream products to a strain that sickened five patients at a Kansas hospital with listeriosis, the severe illness caused by ingestion of Listeria-contaminated food. ![]() ![]() ![]() These standards not only protect individuals, but are paramount to military readiness.” “The results of this investigation are an example of DCIS' determination to enforce food safety standards, as required by Defense Department contracts. “The Defense Criminal Investigative Service's number one priority is the safety and well-being of America's warfighters and their families," said Michael Mentavlos, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Department of Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) Southwest Field Office. “We will continue to investigate and bring to justice those who jeopardize public health.” The charges announced today show that if an individual violates food safety rules or conceals relevant information, we will seek to hold them accountable,” said Judy McMeekin, Pharm.D., Associate Commissioner for Regulatory Affairs, U.S. consumers rely on food producers and suppliers to ensure the safety of the nation’s food supply. “The Department of Justice will take appropriate action against those who ship contaminated products and choose not to tell consumers about known risks.” “American consumers trust that the individuals who lead food manufacturing companies will put the public safety before profits,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Bossert Clark of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. The company did not immediately recall the products or issue any formal communication to inform customers about the potential Listeria contamination. The indictment alleges that Kruse directed employees to tell customers who asked about the removal that there was an unspecified issue with a manufacturing machine. Kruse allegedly orchestrated a scheme to deceive certain Blue Bell customers, including by directing employees to remove potentially contaminated products from store freezers without notifying retailers or consumers about the real reason for the withdrawal. According to the indictment, Texas state officials notified Blue Bell in February 2015 that two ice cream products from the company’s Brenham, Texas, factory tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes, a dangerous pathogen that can lead to serious illness or death in vulnerable populations such as pregnant women, newborns, the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems. In an indictment filed in federal court in Austin, Texas, former Blue Bell president Paul Kruse was charged with seven counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud related to his alleged efforts to conceal from customers what the company knew about Listeria contamination in certain Blue Bell products. with wire fraud and conspiracy in connection with an alleged scheme to cover up the company’s sales of Listeria-tainted ice cream in 2015, the Justice Department announced today. A Texas grand jury charged the former president of ice cream manufacturer Blue Bell Creameries L.P.
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