blue-bell-300x213I did spend some time this week talking to the media about Listeria and Ice Cream – not a great combination.

  • It’s not unusual to see listeria outbreaks linked to dairy products, including ice cream, said William Marler, an attorney who represented victims of a 2011 listeria outbreak that killed 33 people and was traced to a Colorado cantaloupe farm.
  • Mr. Marler said he thought Blue Bell had responded appropriately once it knew its products were linked to illnesses and deaths.
  • The lack of overt sympathy for the victims, which now includes three in Texas, irks attorney Bill Marler, of Seattle- based Marler Clark, one of the nation’s top food safety attorneys. “The only criticism I really have for Blue Bell is they seemed so focused on themselves and less on the people that had gotten sick,” said Marler, who also publishes the Web site foodsafetynews.com.
  • “Likely what happened is the piece of machinery was contaminated. The liquid form of the ice cream goes through the machine when it’s not yet frozen, but around 40 degrees, and it’s a great place for [listeria] to grow,” speculated food safety lawyer Bill Marler.
  • Listeriosis, a food-borne illness, can be especially fatal for people with weak immune systems. It is carried by the bacteria, listeria, which can thrive even at refrigerator temperatures as low as 40 degrees Fahrenheit. “It’s why it’s a problem for cooler foods like ice cream and cheese,” says Bill Marler, a food safety lawyer in Washington state.
  • A lawyer who specializes in representing victims affected by Listeriosis, tells KAKE News there are two reasons to be worried about the spread of the bacteria after a Wichita hospital has been linked to five cases and three deaths. Bill Marler of Seattle has represented dozens of Listeriosis victims, including Kansas residents from the 2011 outbreak caused by cantaloupes that killed 33 people. He says these cases are becoming more common because people are filling their fridges with frozen items.
  • “We’re doing a lot more ready to eat products that are kept in cool temps,” says Marler.
  • He says another reason for concern about the outbreak is it can take up to 70 days from the time you eat the product, to when you get sick. “Listeria is it’s a bug that loves refrigerated, cool environment,” says Marler. “So that’s why you see the outbreaks involving things like cold products like ice cream.”
  • While this outbreak has been traced back to Blue Bell products consumed at Saint Francis, Blue Bell items were also sold at convenience stores. Marler urges everyone clears their freezers of the the contaminated products. “Because this is a frozen product, it’s really important for those who receive this product, and it appears that most of it was institutional, they need to get it off the shelf, out of the freezers because what you don’t want to see happen is something to stay in there and 6 months from now that someone eats it again.”
  • It’s not unusual to see listeria outbreaks linked to dairy products, including ice cream, said William Marler, an attorney who represented victims of a 2011 listeria outbreak that killed 33 people and was traced to a Colorado cantaloupe farm.
  • Attorney Bill Marler is a partner at Seattle-based Marler Clark, also called “The Food Safety Law Firm.” He said it generally does not take a year for a pattern of Listeria-related infections to surface. “The time line seems incredibly long …in my opinion, but could be the fact that the product was frozen,” he said. “Getting the product out of freezers is critical. People who purchased recalled products need to check freezers.”