ARRGGGHHH Blue Bell
 

So one of my favorite things about living in Texas was having access to Blue Bell ice cream, but now we come to find out they have known since March 2013 that they have had a problem with listeria. They killed three people with their ice cream, and I will never buy another product from that shady company again. But who else makes decent ice cream? I bought a package of Dreyers yesterday and that stuff is terrible. It tastes really fake in that it's still soft and smooth straight out the freezer. The HEB store brand must use Texas raspberries and Texas strawberries, because in any kind of fruit flavor the syrup they use is really tart. Breyers used to be my go to back when they were the most natural ice cream out there. Their ingredients list on their strawberry ice cream used to be "milk, sugar, cream, strawberries." Ever since Breyers got bought out by someone else they became the worst though, they can't even call it ice cream. Serious, Breyers "ice cream" is now officially called "Breyers Frozen Dairy Desert" and it won't melt supposedly. Ben & Jerry's and Haagen Dazs are only sold in pints here I think, so they're out.

We only but Turkey Hill Natural, you can actually read and understand the ingredients. We didn't like Bryers either it had a strange taste and texture and i didn't care for the ingredient. This is what's in the vanilla in the Turkey Hill brand....Ingredients: NONFAT MILK, CREAM, SUGAR, VANILLA, VANILLA BEAN.

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There is a Premium type made by Turkey Hill but that one has a lot of the ingredients I don't like so I only by the Natural one. You might like it...:)

I love ice cream at times and Blue Bell was a favorite I could turn to as one of the best of the mass-produced ice creams that had several flavors I loved. Can't believe they knew of this problem so long before the closed down for inspection and cleaning and this makes me wonder just how many other food producers out there are dealing quietly with similar problems they've managed to keep secret. Seems like almost every year we have a food scares and deaths similar to this.

My sister had a half gallon of Butter Pecan in her freezer when the news broke and as the initial recall didn't include the kind of product she had, she was silly enough to eat it and eventually ate it all instead of dumping it, even after they recalled all products and closed down all production! I'd have never taken another bite after the first news broke as recalls always seem to grow and grow in scope. It's been 3 or 4 weeks but she's still got a months or so to go. Hope Blue Bell can find the problem and get back to selling safe ice cream before too long though I wonder how long before I'm brave enough to try any more of it.

Besides Ben & Jerry's, is there another good, fat rich ice cream out there for sale in North Texas anyone can vouch for? Neither Breyers or Dreyers are any good to me.

I don't care if they ever fix it. Nothing will ever make me buy ice cream that kills again. For the last few years they have been cost cutting by using crap like corn syrup instead of sugar, meanwhile my brother who manages a large supermarket says they take losses on Blue Bell even at the high prices it sells for. So we were paying premium prices for declining quality. To hell with that company, I hope this drives them under and they're forced to shut down for good. I hope they get destroyed in litigation from the families of the people they killed.

According to their website the closest place I can get it is 60 miles away. :(

All mass produced ice cream is no where near as good as it used to be except maybe for B&J's. Seems like all taste slightly fake, weak, artificially sweet. I used to love Baskin & Robbins for their rich ice cream but even they got weak tasting and their locations here got fewer and fewer.

I'm going to try this ice cream recipe (only 3 ingredients!), I'm not into coffee (hubby is), but it looks like it would be so easy to modify to other flavors:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMMECm7Huhk

Oh I'm sorry, I didn't realize this wasn't available nationally .....I'd have to be suffering from some serious ice cream withdrawals to go on that trip.

Is it just Blue Bell you won't ever buy again? Do you boycott all corporations who previously sold listeria-infected product, such as the ones that sickened and killed hundreds of people in the salad product & fruit recalls of a few years back or those that sell products or services that have quality or product defects that wind up killing people, such as not ever riding in or buying a GM or Toyota car?

It doesn't help yorkiefan, but this ice cream is very good. I used to love bryers before it became dairy dessert, now I won't touch it.

I haven't tried it, but a lot of people like blue bunny ice cream, some of their flavors don't have junk in them.

I'd just go to the ice cream aisle and search for the brand with the least junk.

Good question.....people continue to buy dog food that has been recalled because of salmonella, listeria, and toxic additive, after the recall is "fixed"....people continue to buy veggies and fruits that have infected people and killed a lot higher numbers of people than just 3, with not only the above bacteria, but also ecoli, after the recall is "fixed".....and there are the cars and air bags and failing breaks and faulty ignition systems where cars have caught fire in the garage and burned homes down.....or the steering has locked down and cars have crashed on the roads.....and lets not even go to the batteries on lap tops and exploding cell phone batteries!!!

If we absolutely refused to ever touch another product that has sickened, injured, maimed, or killed people, we would have NOTHING left to eat, drink, drive, wear, clean with, strap kids in with, strap kids OUT with, etc, etc, etc.

My brother also had Blue Bell in his freezer...he has enough self control (unlike myself, who can eat an entire carton by myself in one setting!!) that a half gallon lasts him for MONTHS....he has not gotten ill from it and this is stuff that he has had since Jan-Feb.....of course, he is essentially healthy and no way immune compromised, which is where listeria causes grave concern.....

If people start dropping by the hundreds, I will reconsider, but THREE already sick people??? NAH!

Braum's Dairy Stores always had nice ice cream?

Yeah, sis knows that even if she got a tainted container of BB, she's not likely to get sick as she's not immune-compromised and is basically healthy.

I got food poisoning years back, had an anaphylactic shock reaction as though I was severely allergic reaction to the toxin itself & that's what kept me in ICU for so long with severe hypotension. The hospital called my family to come to the hospital as soon as I was brought into the E.R. as they said I was near death. It was Honey Boy Pink Salmon that made me so sick and I ate some the week after I got out of the hospital on a dare! Now, I wouldn't be so anywhere near so brave - or foolish!

From the CDC:

Up to 10 percent of the people in the world have an unwelcome guest in their intestinal tract: a bacteria called Listeria monocytogenes. The listeria germ can also be found in soil, water, and the digestive systems of many animals. Like many other common germs, it has an unfortunate habit of showing up in food. Most people who come into contact with the listeria germ never get sick. But when the germ hits the wrong person at the wrong time, it can be dangerous. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, roughly 2,500 Americans get seriously ill from listeria infections -- also called listeriosis -- every year. About 500 of these people die.
As with many other infections, the elderly and people with weak immune systems are especially vulnerable, especially those with AIDS. People with AIDS are almost 300 times more likely to get listeriosis than those whose immune systems are healthy. Pregnant women are another major target, thanks to changes in their immune system. In fact, listeria infections are 20 times more common in pregnant women than in other healthy adults. And when pregnant women get infected, their newborns can catch the germ, too.

According to the CDC, people with cancer, diabetes, or kidney disease and those who take glucocorticosteroid medications (e.g. oral prednisone), such as those taking them for asthma or other autoimmune diseases, are also at risk for listeriosis. Most healthy people don't need to worry much about listeria."

The people that died were already in the hospital with kidney issues and elderly....

I never understood all the love for Blue Bell. We bought a small carton and never finished it. It wasn't that creamy to me.