If your favorite ice cream were taken off shelves because it could cause a potentially fatal illness, would you keep eating it? One family in Texas refuses to throw out their stash of Blue Bell ice cream, because…well, they just don’t wanna.
Yes, one Blue Bell fan has two precious half-gallons of the ice cream in her freezer, eating a small amount once a week, anticipating the products’ return to shelves. How does she know that she won’t get sick? She doesn’t, of course. “I know the different symptoms with Listeria, so I’m hoping that I won’t catch it. It’s more of a faith thing,” she told TV station KHOU. Brand loyalty, unfortunately, is not enough to protect you from gastrointestinal illness.
The containers in her home haven’t made her sick yet, but that doesn’t mean that the rest of the half gallon is safe to eat, since the company and public health authorities still don’t know all of the products that could be contaminated. Maybe there’s a little bit at the bottom of the container she hasn’t encountered yet. A local epidemiologist told KHOU that continuing to eat Blue Bell ice cream in the freezer is a terrible idea.
It’s worth noting that this interview took place before the news broke that Listeria contamination was found in the company’s factories in Food and Drug Administration reports dating back to 2013, and that the company did nothing to find the source of bacteria found on equipment or make sure that ice cream wasn’t affected. That kind of news could affect even the most loyal user.
Die-hard Blue Bell fans not shying away from listeria concerns [KHOU]
by Laura Northrup via Consumerist
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