UPDATE:

On Jan. 12, Blue Bell released a statement clarifying that listeria has NOT been found in the plant, as originally reported. The company said "In our facilities, we have identified suspected areas where bacteria may be present but in no case have we confirmed Listeria monocytogenes."

ORIGINAL JAN. 11 POST: 

Just as the gods return Blue Bell ice cream to our homes and freezers, signs of listeria have, once again, been found at the creamery's plant.

According to the Dallas Business Journal, listeria has been found in the company's Brenham, Texas plant.

In a written statement, Blue Bell officials said, "We have identified locations where suspected Listeria species may be present in our facility, and we continue to extensively clean and sanitize those areas and make additional enhancements to the facility and our procedures based on the environmental test results ... Since our plants reopened, we have tested and will continue to test every batch of ice cream produced, and no products produced have tested positive for listeria."

The Texas-based ice cream company has been dealing with a listeria nightmare for months. Last March, the ice ream maker underwent a voluntary recall after 10 cases of listeria were reported and traced to facilities in Texas, Oklahoma and Alabama. Three of the cases, all traced back to the Texas plant, were fatal.

The company has slowly been rolling the ice cream back out to freezers across Texas the last couple of months, and just returned to West Texas in the last couple of weeks. There's no word on whether it will trigger another recall, but the company says it's tested every batch it's sent out and all have come back clean, so it might not be a bad idea to get your Blue Bell fix in while you can.

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