Florida Ice Cream Company Recalls All Products Over Listeria Outbreak

The Big Olaf Creamery, a Florida-based ice cream company, is recalling all of its products bearing an expiration date of June 30 or later because they could be included in a recent listeria outbreak, according to a company announcement posted on the Food and Drug Administration’s website this week.

The company, located in Sarasota, Florida,  said it is recalling all flavors and all lot numbers of its products, saying that “based on epidemiological information shared by the CDC and State Officials, Big Olaf may be a potential source of illness in an ongoing listeria monocytogenes outbreak,” reports The Hill.

To date, 23 people have gotten ill from a listeria outbreak, with one person dying, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The illness carries the symptoms of high fever, nausea, stiffness, and severe headaches, and can lead to stillbirths and miscarriages. Five of the people who became ill were pregnant women, with one reporting a miscarriage.

Of those who got sick, 18 said they ate ice cream before becoming ill, and 10 people said they either had ice cream at a location where the company’s products were offered or knew they ate ice cream under the Big Olaf brand name, the company said in its announcement.
However, the announcement said that the ice cream brand or companies selling it did not report illness complaints.

Big Olaf ice cream is mostly sold or available in Florida in restaurants, senior homes, and retailers, along with one location in Ohio.

Via        Newsmax