Dive Brief:
- Nestle USA, Inc. has initiated a voluntary recall of two varieties of its Nestle Drumstick Club ice cream products due to positive testing for listeria within Nestle's Drumstick operations, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
- Equipment contact surfaces along the production line for the Drumstick products at its Bakersfield, CA facility tested positive for listeria, though the products themselves did not test positive.
- Neither the company nor the FDA have reported any illnesses to date, and Nestle USA is conducting the recall as a precautionary measure. The company "inadvertently" distributed the products after discovering the contamination at the production plant, according to a news release.
Dive Insight:
While Nestle USA hasn't reported illnesses linked to its Drumstick products yet, that doesn't mean such reports couldn't arise in the coming days, weeks or months. Listeria can survive freezing temperatures, and because frozen products often have a long shelf life, listeria-related illnesses could take longer to surface.
Several frozen food companies have had sometimes massive listeria-related product recalls that in certain cases led to the shutdown of production. Blue Bell initiated a full product recall and closed all of its production plants last year due to listeria contamination.
Then last month, Blue Bell initiated another recall of its products containing cookie dough. However, debate between Blue Bell and its cookie dough supplier has arisen as to which facility is at fault for the contamination.
Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams and CRF Frozen Foods represent two other examples of how listeria can impact frozen foods on a larger scale. This could be just the beginning of this recall for Nestle USA, though getting ahead of the issue by being transparent — and initiating a recall even before any consumers reported a related illness — could help the company going forward.