Blue Bell Ice Cream's Return to Florida Coming Soon

Tampa Bay area residents eager to sink their spoons into giant tubs of Blue Bell Ice Cream will have to wait a little bit longer.

How much longer remains unclear, but the good news is the company is making progress in its return to market following a Listeria-prompted recall that led to a complete shutdown of production earlier this year. The Texas-based company began noting problems with Listeria contamination in March and announced a recall of all of its products in April. Listeria is a potentially fatal organism that causes fever, headaches, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea.

Following a retooling of all its production plants, Blue Bell recently began returning to grocery store shelves in some markets. The company’s ice cream is currently available in some parts of Texas and a few other states. Two more rounds of phased-in market returns have been announced to take place later this month. Florida is in Phase 5 of the company’s plans to resume distribution and sales. A date for Phase 5 roll out hasn’t been set. That phase will also include a restocking of grocery store freezers in Georgia and a few other states with Blue Bell products.

See Also:

• Blue Bell Recall Expands to Include Everything

“We’re committed to doing the 100 percent right thing, and the best way to do that is to take all of our products off the market until we can be confident that they are all safe,” Paul Kruse, Blue Bell CEO and president, said at the time of the initial shutdown. “We are heartbroken about this situation and apologize to all of our loyal Blue Bell fans and customers. Our entire history has been about making the very best and highest quality ice cream and we intend to fix this problem. We want enjoying our ice cream to be a source of joy and pleasure, never a cause for concern, so we are committed to getting this right.”

Prior to the Listeria incident, Blue Bell Ice Cream enjoyed more than a 100-year run without a single recall.

While a date for Blue Bell’s Florida return hasn’t been set, the company has created a place its fans can go to keep up with developments. Just visit the Blue Bell website to find out more. The next scheduled distribution roll outs are Dec. 14 and Dec. 21.