Blue Bell Creameries Making Ice Cream Again After Listeria Outbreak

Following the massive frozen treats recall by Blue Bell Creameries and the temporary production halt due to a deadly Listeria contamination, the Texas-based company is producing ice cream again at its Alabama plant.

The announcement was made on Twitter on Wednesday by the company's official account.

"We're busy at our Sylacauga, AL, facility crankin' out ice cream and building inventory," the tweet by Blue Bell Ice Cream said.

The Alabama Department of Public Health also approved the Blue Bell Company's bid to produce and sell its products to the public. The ice cream giant has manufacturing plants in Alabama, Texas and Oklahoma.

It is unclear when Blue Bell's frozen treats will hit the stores again after its massive nationwide recall in April this year.

"We are still finalizing our distribution plan, and do not have a date when our products will return to market. We are making good progress on our facilities in Broken Arrow and Brenham, but do not have a date when production will resume," said Jenny Van Dorf, Blue Bell spokesperson, via Nola.com.

With the reopening of the Alabama plant, 200 workers were also called back to work at the plant, according to KWTX-TV News.

According to the investigation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were 10 people who were infected with listeria from Arizona, Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas. All infected were hospitalized, but three patients from Kansas were reported to have died from listeriosis.

Listeriosis is a bacterial infection caused by Listeria monocytogenes, usually caught by eating contaminated food. Those who are at high risk for listeriosis are the elderly, aged 65 and above, pregnant women and those with weakened immune systems. Symptoms of listeriosis include nausea, diarrhea, fever, and muscle aches, according to WebMD.

During the FDA testing, almost all Blue Bell products were contaminated with listeria, according to Mike Doyle, director of the Center for Food Safety at the University of Georgia, as reported by Yahoo Health.

The Blue Bell Company announced in their website their intent to address the listeria problem through extensive cleaning, decontamination and retesting.

Doyle added that Blue Bell's ice cream products should be deemed safe to eat if the FDA green lights the products to be ready to be consumed. He added that people don't have to be so worried about eating the frozen treats since the FDA is monitoring the company's production and will be regularly testing it for the listeria bacteria.