July is National Ice Cream Month. Ice cream’s cold, sweet creaminess perfectly offsets the typically hot summer weather. Business booms at the local ice cream parlor and the freezer at home is well stocked with the delicious treat. Fond memories are made over double-decker cones. When we look back at your childhood, the excitement and anticipation at the blaring announcement of an impending ice cream truck can find itself near the top of our list of favorite sounds.
But what happens when your favorite summer confection turns deadly? It may sound like something out of a twisted horror writer’s mind, but that is exactly what happened in the early part of 2015.
Outbreak at Blue Bell Creameries
During the early months of 2015, several clusters of deadly listeria outbreaks occurred in parts of the American south and mid-west. Consumers affected resided in Arizona, Texas, Kansas, and Oklahoma.
The culprit turned out to be Blue Bell Creameries, an ice cream manufacturer that had been operating out of Brenham, Texas since it was established in 1907. As a result of eating the contaminated ice cream, 10 people were hospitalized and three Kansas residents died.
In February of 2015, Texas state officials warned Blue Bell Creameries that two of its products had been tested and found to contain listeria monocytogenes. Blue Bell Creameries instructed its drivers to remove the potentially toxic products from store shelves. It offered no official explanation to its vendors about why the products were being removed. Additionally, the company failed to issue a comprehensive recall or warning to customers that the ice cream products in their freezers could sicken or kill them. This omission would lead to a deadly outcome.
By March, five people had been hospitalized in Kansas; three would later die from listeriosis. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) connected illnesses and deaths to the Blue Bell Creameries products the patients had eaten.
Finally, on March 13th, 2005, Blue Bell Creamery, the FDA, and the CDC issued a complete recall of the products, but much of the damage had already been done. The company’s failure to quickly issue a comprehensive recall likely led to significant unnecessary illness and loss of life.
By June of the same year, the CDC had wrapped up its investigation and concluded that the ice cream had been contaminated with several strains of listeriosis.
What Is Listeria and What Symptoms Does It Cause?
Listeria is a food-borne bacterial pathogen most often found in improperly processed deli meat and unpasteurized milk products. The bacteria can withstand freezing temperatures.
While most relatively healthy people are not affected by listeria or experience only mild symptoms, the bacteria is particularly dangerous for those over 65, people with compromised immune systems, and pregnant people.
While the bacteria doesn’t usually sicken the mother significantly, it can have deleterious effects on the developing fetus. The bacteria can cause the baby to die in the womb, resulting in a miscarriage, or the child can be born with a deadly infection.
Symptoms of listeria-based infection include fever, chills, muscle aches, diarrhea, and nausea. If some cases, the infection will spread to the patient’s nervous system, resulting in additional symptoms, including headaches, dizziness, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions. Ultimately, the pathogen can also lead to bacterial meningitis and death.
While exposure to listeria bacteria can result in symptoms appearing within days, the infection may linger for a month or longer before the victim begins to experience indications of illness.
Quickly treating a listeria patient with antibiotics can have some positive results in mitigating the most violent symptoms of the disease.
2022 Outbreak at Big Olaf Creamery
The threat of exposure to listeria bacteria is ongoing, as evidenced by a recent recall of listeria-contaminated products manufactured by Big Olaf Creamery of Sarasota, Florida. Thus far, the CDC has identified 23 people sickened by Big Olaf ice cream. The bulk of those illnesses have occurred in Florida, but cases linked to the same contaminant have been discovered in 10 different states.
In this case, the company has ceased production of all ice cream products and issued a complete recall in conjunction with the FDA. Still, there is the potential that the product could still be sitting in the freezers of customers who purchased it and are unaware of the recall.
How Can People Exposed to Listeria Seek Recompense?
In the legal system, civil litigation is the primary means for a victim injured due to a company’s carelessness or malfeasance. In the Blue Bell case, because the company failed to act with intention after first presented with evidence of their dangerous product, courts ultimately levied a total of $19.35 million in fines and victim compensation. Additionally, the former president of the company was indicted on criminal charges.
But a case doesn’t have to rise to the level of criminality for victims to receive compensation for their injuries.
Personal Injury Law
Anyone who feels that a product or service has damaged them has a right to present their evidence in a court of law and potentially recover financial compensation for their losses. Those losses could come in the form of medical bills, time lost from work, travel expenses, and ongoing pain and suffering.
In many cases, multiple parties may be to blame for your injuries.
A qualified personal injury attorney understands the intricacies and complexity of our legal system and can help you navigate it to gain the maximum award for your injury, pain, and suffering.
If you believe you may have been infected with listeria, consult your doctor, then contact a personal injury attorney who can work with you to obtain justice.
