Blue Bell Vindicated as FDA Confirms Source of Listeria

Blue Bell just got another boost in its climb back to ice cream supremacy, as the FDA has officially identified a third-party cookie dough supplier as the source of Litsteria contamination that prompted a recall late last year.

The Houston Chronicle reports that the Food and Drug Administration issued a warning letter to Iowa-based Aspen Hills last month. The letter detailed the company's failures to safeguard its products from Listeria monocytogenes in four of its plants.

Aspen Hills' internal testing identified the disease-causing bacteria in ten areas and a finished batch of dough that, fortunately, was not distributed.

Blue Bell voluntarily recalled half gallon tubs of its Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Cookie Two Step flavors in September of 2016 after its newly-adopted testing methods detected the bacteria.

In December of 2016, Blue Bell announced an expansion into Denver, Colorado and surrounding cities, as well as Cheyenne, Wyoming.