Blue Bell says its ice cream won't return soon

Rick Harmon | Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser

Show Caption Hide Caption FDA: Blue Bell knew about bacteria problem Investigators say that Blue Bell continued to ship ice cream after what the Food and Drug Administration says was inadequate cleaning.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — It is taking longer than expected for Blue Bell Ice Cream to make its way back into groceries, and the company's president said Thursday it is still months away "at a minimum."

The Blue Bell production plants in Brenham, Texas, Broken Arrow, Okla., and Sylacauga, Ala., are closed because of possible listeria contamination, and no ice cream is being produced at this time

Meanwhile, a government investigation released Thursday says Blue Bell had evidence of listeria bacteria in its Oklahoma plant as far back as March 2013. The company then continued to ship ice cream produced in that plant after what the Food and Drug Administration says was inadequate cleaning.

Three listeria deaths in Kansas are now linked to the ice cream. The company recalled all of its products last month, following several smaller recalls.

The FDA released its investigations into Blue Bell's plants in Oklahoma, Texas and Alabama after a Freedom of Information request by The Associated Press. The most extensive violations were found in Oklahoma, where the FDA released 16 separate positive tests for listeria on equipment and in ice cream from March 2013 through January 2015.

Violations in the Oklahoma plant include dirty equipment, inadequate food storage, food being held at improper temperatures and employees not washing hands adequately.

There were also violations at the Texas and Alabama plants. In Alabama, FDA investigators observed at least two employees working with the food wearing soiled clothing. In Texas, investigators saw condensation dripping directly into food and onto surfaces that came directly in contact with food. In all of the plants, the FDA found dirty equipment and infrastructure that made cleaning difficult.

"Several swab tests did show the presence of listeria on non-food surfaces in Blue Bell's Broken Arrow plant in 2013," the company said in an email. "As is standard procedure for any such positive results, the company would immediately clean the surfaces and swab until the tests were negative. We thought our cleaning process took care of any problems, but in hindsight, it was not adequate, which is why we are currently conducting such a comprehensive re-evaluation of all our operations."

The company, which has collected about 8 million gallons of ice cream and ice cream products, said the process of getting its facilities operating again will take longer than initially planned.

"The extensive and detailed process of updating, cleaning and sanitizing our four production facilities, as well as training employees and implementing new programs and procedures, will take longer than we initially anticipated," the company said in a release.

CEO and President Paul Kruse said there is not yet a firm timetable to get it back on grocery store shelves.

"We believe at this time that it will be several months at a minimum," Kruse said.

"We are working closely with the appropriate federal and state regulatory agencies and our microbiology experts, and we are mapping out the many details of returning to production and distribution as soon as we can do so with confidence."

Contributing: The Associated Press