Listeria now confirmed at Florida ice cream maker’s facility. FDA recall issued. 

Florida ice cream brand Big Olaf Creamery on Wednesday issued an official recall with the FDA, 11 days after the CDC first linked its products to a deadly multi-state outbreak of listeria.

Hours after the recall was issued, state officials also confirmed to the Bradenton Herald that samples collected from Big Olaf Creamery’s production facility in Sarasota have come back positive for L. monocytogenes, the foodborne-illness causing species of listeria.

The recall, which includes “all flavors and all lots of Big Olaf brand ice cream products” with expiration dates through June 30, 2022, was posted by the Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday.

“Consumers who have purchased Big Olaf Ice Cream Products should not consume these products and dispose of them immediately. Any areas, containers, and serving utensils that may have touched the ice cream should be cleaned,” the recall says.

Listeria is a bacteria that can be carried in food products and cause mild to serious illness. Serious infections, called listeriosis, can lead to hospitalization, miscarriages and death.

“The infection is most likely to sicken pregnant women and their newborns, adults aged 65 or older and people with weakened immune systems,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say.

The recall says that Big Olaf voluntarily stopped production and distribution of its products while federal and state authorities complete an investigation of the listeria outbreak.

Big Olaf facility tests positive for listeria

On Wednesday evening, state officials confirmed that samples collected from Big Olaf Creamery’s production facility in Sarasota, where all product is made, have come back positive for listeria.

“Of the 100 environmental samples collected, nine have come back positive for L. monocytogenes,” Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services spokesperson Erin Moffet said in an email.

Based on the results, FDACS has issued a “stop use” order for Big Olaf’s processing equipment.

“This will effectively shut down all operations at this processing facility, which had already been done voluntarily by the company,” Moffet said.

FDACS is still awaiting test results from samples of Big Olaf products that were collected last week.

“Public health officials continue to interview people about the foods they ate before they got sick,” a July 8 update from the CDC says. “Of the 18 people interviewed, all reported eating ice cream. Among 18 people who remembered details about the type of ice cream they ate, 10 reported eating Big Olaf Creamery brand ice cream or eating ice cream at locations that might have been supplied by Big Olaf Creamery.”

The CDC says that three “illness clusters,” have now been linked to Big Olaf retail locations. The agency defines an illness cluster as “two or more people who do not live in the same household who report eating food from the same retail location before becoming ill.”

“If several unrelated ill people ate food from the same retail location, it suggests that the contaminated food item was served or sold there,” the CDC said.

Big Olaf delayed recalling products

On June 30, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced it was investigating a multi-state listeria outbreak. In an update on July 2, the CDC linked the listeria outbreak to Big Olaf Creamery products based on interviews of people who had gotten sick. The agency advised to consumers to throw away and avoid eating any Big Olaf products.

Companies typically issue food recalls voluntarily, except in rare instances when federal authorities order one.

Big Olaf Creamery chose not to issue a recall for about a week after the listeria outbreak was announced. A public statement from the company said the investigation was “only speculation.”

Some Big Olaf Creamery retailers, which are independently owned stores, stayed open and continued to sell the ice cream to customers. Eventually, several of the stores closed temporarily, and several have now switched to selling other brands of ice cream.

At the time of a CDC update posted on July 8, a recall had still not been issued.

But that afternoon, the Florida Department of Health confirmed to news outlets that Big Olaf Creamery had agreed to voluntarily recall its products.

The official recall was posted by the FDA on Wednesday. Big Olaf has not yet shared news of the recall directly with the public through its website or social media accounts.

“Big Olaf is cooperating fully with regulatory authorities to successfully return all suspected products and has requested retailers to stop sales and dispose of product,” the company said in its recall announcement.

Since the listeria investigation was announced, two lawsuits have been filed against Big Olaf Creamery.

The family of an Illinois woman who died after allegedly eating at a Big Olaf ice cream parlor in Sarasota is suing the company. And a woman who alleges she became seriously ill and lost her pregnancy after eating Big Olaf ice cream while visiting Clearwater Beach for a wedding has also filed suit.

The CDC has confirmed 23 illnesses in the listeria outbreak, including 22 people who were hospitalized and one death reported from Illinois. Five people became ill while pregnant, the CDC says, including one who had a miscarriage.

What to know about Big Olaf recall

• The recall is for “all flavors and all lots of Big Olaf brand ice cream products” with expiration dates through June 30, 2022

• The products should not be consumed and disposed of immediately. Any areas, containers, and serving utensils that may have touched the ice cream should be cleaned.

• The products were sold at Big Olaf retailers in Florida as well as to consumers in restaurants and senior homes, and one location in Fredericksburg, Ohio, the company’s recall says.

• The ice cream was sold to consumers in plastic pint size containers and plastic half gallon containers; scoopable plastic 2.5 gallon tubs were sold to independent retail stores.

• Consumers that have questions about the recall can call Big Olaf Creamery at 941-365-7483, Monday–Saturday from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., the recall says.

The full recall can be read on the recall section of the FDA’s website.

This story was originally published July 13, 2022 at 6:31 PM.