FDA Announces A Nationwide Recall Of More Than Sixty Ice Cream Brands

(PatriotWise.com) — The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last Monday posted a recall alert for more than a dozen ice cream brands made by the Maryland-based ice cream producer, Totally Cool, Inc., including Hershey’s Ice Cream, Friendly’s, the Frozen Farmer, and Jeni’s, due to a “possible health risk.”

In its June 24 alert, the FDA said that while no illnesses have so far been reported, the company ceased production and distribution after FDA sampling detected the presence of Listeria monocytogenes, a pathogenic bacteria that can cause “serious and sometimes fatal infections,” particularly among the very young, the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems.

Symptoms of the listeriosis infection include high fever, stiffness, nausea, severe headaches, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. The infection can also cause miscarriages and stillbirths, the FDA said.

According to the alert, Totally Cool, Inc. is continuing to investigate the cause and has taken “preventative actions.”

The complete list of recalled ice cream products affected by the recall is posted on the FDA website. In total, over 60 ice cream varieties from 13 brand names are included in the recall. The affected products were distributed nationwide, both in retail locations and through direct delivery.

The FDA advises consumers who purchased any of the products listed to either return them to the store for a refund or dispose of them.

One of the affected brands, Taharka Brothers Ice Cream, said in a June 25 statement posted on Facebook that it would immediately begin making the two flavors it had outsourced to Totally Cool at its own factory.

Crave Better Foods, the owners of the ChipWich ice cream brand, said that it shared a Totally Cool facility but operated a separate production line. However, “out of an abundance of caution,” it decided to voluntarily recall its vanilla chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches.

According to Crave Better Foods, the Totally Cool facility informed Crave Better about a possible health issue on the production line used in making ice cream cakes.