Former Blue Bell Workers Claim Management Ignored Food Safety Problems — CBS News

In addition to the deaths caused by the outbreak, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 10 people in four states were also hospitalized due to illness from the listeria bacteria believed to have been in Blue Bell products. The same strain of Listeria continued to sicken more people, eventually leading to the company’s recall of all its products-8 million gallons of it. Before this, Blue Bell was the number three brand in the country and was sold in 23 states.

While ice cream production resumed this summer at the Blue Bell plants in Broken Arrow, OK, and Sylacauga, AL, and limited supplies of Blue Bell products started returning to regional store shelves as of August 31, the Brenham plant is still not operational. But Schultz said nothing was done about his complaints. The Brenham, TX plant is still officially closed.

“A lot of times when I walked in, there was just ice cream all over the floor”, Schultz said. “Sometimes the machines would just go haywire, the product would just continually run through the conveyor belt and just drop right on the floor”.

Stopping to clean the ice cream would slow down production, Schultz explained, so workers left it on the floor, where bacteria could grow and flourish. Nothing was done in response to his complaints, he said. Nothing was done, and the employee decided the management attitude was “production is probably more important than cleanliness”.

“It’s all about the money”, he said.

While there is always a risk of contracting a foodborne illness from any product, Doyle says you shouldn’t stress out about eating Blue Bell ice cream once it’s back on the market.

He agrees it would have been possible to have oil from the machines end up in a few of the ice cream.

A CBS News investigative report on the company is scheduled to air tonight on the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley and tomorrow on CBS This Morning.

“[Water] on the wall, by the three-gallon machine”.

In May, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration posted inspection reports of Blue Bell facilities completed from 2007-2015. Over the years, we have welcomed an average of 200,000 visitors a year to tour our Brenham plant and see our operation for themselves. Bland questions the inspection process.

“I got a lot of people saying I did good, people needed to know”, said Bland. According to him, procedures inside the plant didn’t change until about two weeks before the recall was announced. When the Army arrived on-site, workers say they typically had 15 to 20 minutes to get their areas into shape.

Bland and former Blue Bell worker Terry Schultz both described unsanitary, unsafe conditions and claimed when they spoke up about it nothing was done. It was the first mass workforce dismissal in the company’s history.

“I love the awesome flavors and all the delicious things about it”, said resident Gunner Gee.

“And just no action was taken….”

Blue Bell still can not distribute any products until they are tested and confirmed safe.

People in Brenham are eager for their plant to reopen.