Dive Brief:
- Food and Drug Administration inspectors found evidence of listeria on seven samples taken from a Bidart Bros. cooling and packing facility in Shafter, CA.
- This facility may have been the original contamination site of the 2014 listeria outbreak that involved commercially produced, prepackaged caramel apples.
- According to Food Safety News, listeria was found on samples taken from polishing brushes, drying brushes, packing line drain, inside a wood bin, and on an automatic line, all within the Bidart Bros. facility.
Dive Insight:
Food Safety News noted other safety hazards from the FDA's report, including, "a damaged conveyor belt with chipping and peeling paint on the transfer chute on the Granny’s Best packaging line, and green vinyl-coated padding lining the transfer chute to the peeler had frayed edges and exposed foam-like material."
Similarly, in the wake of Blue Bell's listeria contamination and entire inventory recall, FDA inspection reports have brought to light other safety hazards found at Blue Bell plants in the years leading up to the outbreak.
Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams found its source of listeria contamination earlier this month but has since begun producing ice cream and announced the planned reopening of its shops; the FDA also reported the company failed simple sanitation procedures.