Blue Bell’s Alabama Plant Is Producing Ice Cream For Future Sale

The company’s OK plant remains closed, and no firm date was given for when Blue Bell ice cream and related products would be back on retail shelves.

Blue Bell says it has been testing ice-cream at the Alabama plant for almost a month and state health officials have found no signs of listeria.

A state inspection found that Blue Bell’s creamery in Sylacauga, Alabama, meets all state public health standards, said Ron Dawsey, director of the department’s Division of Food, Milk and Lodging. In addition to Brenham and Sylacauga, the company operates a plant in Broken Arrow, Okla.

Blue Bell reached an agreement with health officials, including health departments in Texas, Alabama and Oklahoma that a trial period will be in place before ice cream is sold to consumers.

Blue Bell has laid off more than a third of its workforce due to the shut down, and pledged to address the problems that led to the contamination.

Listeria is potentially life-threatening, and it is particularly unsafe for pregnant women, young children, elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.

The company has undergone extensive cleaning and decontamination at its four plants since the April recall. “At this time, we are still finalizing our distribution plan and do not have a date when our products will return to market”. Under the terms, the Bass family would get a one-third stake in the company.