So, what is listeria anyway? I heard it only kills old people. Does this mean I can go get unlimited ice cream right now, or do I still have to throw away all my buttered pecan?
Agreed. It's been scientifically proven that butter pecan does indeed suck. Rocky mountain road on the other hand is by far the best, unless you can get some cantaloupe cream when it comes into season.
@JonT Try Melona Korean melon creamsicles, they're super amazing. Also, I just found out that Googling "Melona" to find this image brings up lots and lots of anime boobies! So that's nice too.
@JonT It is creamy goodness but rare. It is only when the Pecos Sweet cantaloupes are in season and you get chunks of frozen cantaloupes in every bite. It is really good!
@Starblind omg those took over our office a few weeks ago, @ChadP, @troy and I buy multiple boxes when we take lunch trips to H-Mart. They are SO GOOD.
Butter pecan--the best! We don't get Blue Bell ice cream here. We have Blue Bunny--which sounds like an abused Easter gift or a creature choking on the delicious pecans in delicious Butter Pecan, whichever brand you buy. Sorry about you guys' Blue Bell contamination.
@MSticklefeather I've heard that Blue Bunny has been getting calls about the recall from people who are confused and lack reading comprehension skills. I'm sure they're thrilled to be getting dragged into this mess....
@KatyG What a joy to see a writer here who values reading comprehension skills and accuracy of language. I'm a long-time editor, technical editor, and 2 daughters and 1 granddaughter annoy the heck out of everyone with their compulsive need to comment on language errors and errors caused by poor reading comprehension. Blessings upon you!!
Texans seem to love Blue Bell ice cream madly. A fact which I can only account for by remembering that they're Texans. IMO, it's worse than meh. You go, listeria. Or stay, stay with the Blue Bell.
@joelmw When it comes to non-premium ice cream brands... Turkey Hill FTW. I only wish that they would've been able to hold the line in the price vs. size war. Ice cream is sold by the half gallon. Milk is sold by the gallon (as well as other whole units of imperial volume), Coffee by the pound.
I've never heard of it and I don't think it's even available here, but it still sucks when something bad happens to a 100-year-old family-owned business. Even if they continue on somehow, their brand will be associated with this forever. If they don't, though, 4000 people will lose their jobs.
@Starblind Damn. Now I feel like an asshole. Which I am. Sigh. It's just the way that they act like it's the only good ice cream and it's not even good. :-(
@joelmw Ice cream affinity is special and transcends mere physical quality, similar to how Coca-Cola is enjoyed. People associate ice cream with childhood and the ice cream that best gives them that momentary escape is objectively the best ice cream for them. You can show them how it's not as good from a textural or flavor point-of-view, but that's never what they bought the ice cream for. That ice cream is sold in pints.
@joelmw Bluebell ice cream is the best! They stuck to the 1/2 gallon line, instead of raising their prices by lowering the package quantity. They have amazing flavors as well. Even their voluntary recall of ALL products, when the source of the listeria is still in question is amazing. I am very curious what ice cream you find to be superior???
@carl669 Even most of the small, local creameries near me load up their 'ice cream' with guar gum, locust bean gum, etc. That shit does not make for ice-cream-textured ice cream!
Blue Bell has a branding agreement with a large Midwestern ice cream truck fleet. Be aware if you have children and you live in the Midwest that the vendor who owns these trucks is NOT complying with the recall and is actively selling ALL his Blue Bell stock from his branded trucks! My son purchased a Blue Bell product from one yesterday without my knowledge! When confronted by me via telephone this afternoon, Blue Bell said the recall was voluntary (read: not government mandated) and that because the recall is "voluntary" there is no way that Blue Bell nor the FDA has in place to stop or prevent any retailer that has Blue Bell ice cream or novelties in their existing stock from selling it.
What a crock of SHIT. I really didn't care for Blue Bell all that much to begin with, but now I'll never buy another Blue Bell product again.
@MrsPavlov While that definitely sounds horrible, I'm not sure what Blue Bell could really do about under-the-table sales of old stock. The recall is self-imposed, so it's not technically illegal. Most retailer distribution contracts have a clause to abide by recalls, so the fleet may be in violation of its contract, but it's not like Blue Bell has an army to send out and forcibly seize trucks of ice cream. Realistically, what can they do?
@Starblind If the recall had been mandated, the retailers could be sanctioned for selling old stock - they intentionally did the voluntary recall AHEAD of a mandated recall. They could also have built in better safeguards when it comes to voluntary recalls in their contract with their vendors. I called a local producer my husband works with from time to time who is also at the largest news station in town, they've been working on this story all day. He called back and said Blue Bell has admitted (via their media contact) that they have NO clause in their licensing agreement for trucks / kiosks / vending when it comes to voluntary recalls. So they've got tainted product they COULD have had at least some modicum of control over in this exact situation, but they chose to omit that language from their licensing agreements. Corporate irresponsibility at its finest.
@MrsPavlov You act like this was planned long ago by this evil company. They have been in business for a 108 years and this is their first recall ever. It's not like they have to have contingency plans so that your son won't buy black market icecream. Not every product is tainted. Most likely not many are. For a company to do a recall of ALL of it's product shows that they really care about their product and reputation. They could have said FU customers, we ain't recalling until the feds swoop in. So go ahead and freak out and call out a company for doing the right thing. That just means more Blue Bell for me when it comes available again.
@MrsPavlov It's a complete no-win situation for Blue Bell. If they do an early recall voluntarily, people will assume (as you have) that they're trying to dodge a mandatory recall. However, if they'd waited for a mandatory recall, they'd look even worse for waiting and thus putting people's lives at risk. Either way they look bad, but I'd say the voluntary recall is the safer choice.
I agree that their distribution contracts should have clauses that mandate cooperation with recalls. Remember, though, that this is a 100-year-old company, and the very concept of product recalls is fairly new: the CPSC began in 1972. The contracts may have been drafted long before recalls were a thing. But as mentioned, even if the trucks were in violation of their contract, there would be little to nothing Blue Bell could do about it other than send nasty letters.
Being a Louisiana resident I can say that I have an affinity for Blue Bell. Especially King Cake when it's in season, and Creole Cream Cheese. I hope they make it through this PR nightmare for those reasons.
I've also spent about a year looking for more Magic Swirtle ice cream from Walgreen's. I've heard Penn Jillette say that it's available, but I can't get my hands on it since it went away after the Celebrity Apprentice contest ended. That was the best ice cream I've had from a store freezer.
Listeria monocytogenes is the food-borne pathogen that always comes to my mind when I hear Def Leppard's "Hysteria" on the radio.
I'd throw it away, but I think buttered pecan is kinda gross, so what do I know?
Agreed. It's been scientifically proven that butter pecan does indeed suck. Rocky mountain road on the other hand is by far the best, unless you can get some cantaloupe cream when it comes into season.
@kevin8er cantaloupe cream does not sound good to me. I love honeydew flavored slushes and stuff but cantaloupe is the lesser melon.
@JonT Try Melona Korean melon creamsicles, they're super amazing. Also, I just found out that Googling "Melona" to find this image brings up lots and lots of anime boobies! So that's nice too.
@JonT It is creamy goodness but rare. It is only when the Pecos Sweet cantaloupes are in season and you get chunks of frozen cantaloupes in every bite. It is really good!
@Starblind omg those took over our office a few weeks ago, @ChadP, @troy and I buy multiple boxes when we take lunch trips to H-Mart. They are SO GOOD.
@Starblind Melon bars FTW... i'm itching to try their strawb & mango flavors too. We've tried banana, and it's just meh in comparison to melon.
@troy we might have to go to H-Mart this week.
I wish I could find these in my area. I tried one last week while out of town and they are great.
@Starblind Love these. I lived on Big Island Hawaii for a bit--these were all over. I miss them dearly.
@Starblind http://www.thesquishymonster.com/2015/04/3-ingredient-korean-melon-bars-melona-ice-cream-bar.html
@hmw64wv http://www.thesquishymonster.com/2015/04/3-ingredient-korean-melon-bars-melona-ice-cream-bar.html maybe close?
Butter pecan--the best! We don't get Blue Bell ice cream here. We have Blue Bunny--which sounds like an abused Easter gift or a creature choking on the delicious pecans in delicious Butter Pecan, whichever brand you buy. Sorry about you guys' Blue Bell contamination.
@MSticklefeather I've heard that Blue Bunny has been getting calls about the recall from people who are confused and lack reading comprehension skills. I'm sure they're thrilled to be getting dragged into this mess....
@KatyG What a joy to see a writer here who values reading comprehension skills and accuracy of language. I'm a long-time editor, technical editor, and 2 daughters and 1 granddaughter annoy the heck out of everyone with their compulsive need to comment on language errors and errors caused by poor reading comprehension. Blessings upon you!!
Texans seem to love Blue Bell ice cream madly. A fact which I can only account for by remembering that they're Texans. IMO, it's worse than meh. You go, listeria. Or stay, stay with the Blue Bell.
@joelmw That's so evil. It's probably why I like you.
@OldCatLady How disturbing of you to say such a thing. Which is probably why I like you. :-)
@joelmw When it comes to non-premium ice cream brands... Turkey Hill FTW. I only wish that they would've been able to hold the line in the price vs. size war. Ice cream is sold by the half gallon. Milk is sold by the gallon (as well as other whole units of imperial volume), Coffee by the pound.
I've never heard of it and I don't think it's even available here, but it still sucks when something bad happens to a 100-year-old family-owned business. Even if they continue on somehow, their brand will be associated with this forever. If they don't, though, 4000 people will lose their jobs.
@Starblind Damn. Now I feel like an asshole. Which I am. Sigh. It's just the way that they act like it's the only good ice cream and it's not even good. :-(
@joelmw Ice cream affinity is special and transcends mere physical quality, similar to how Coca-Cola is enjoyed. People associate ice cream with childhood and the ice cream that best gives them that momentary escape is objectively the best ice cream for them. You can show them how it's not as good from a textural or flavor point-of-view, but that's never what they bought the ice cream for. That ice cream is sold in pints.
@joelmw Bluebell ice cream is the best! They stuck to the 1/2 gallon line, instead of raising their prices by lowering the package quantity. They have amazing flavors as well. Even their voluntary recall of ALL products, when the source of the listeria is still in question is amazing. I am very curious what ice cream you find to be superior???
@tightwad We typically eat Breyers and Dreyers. Homemade is clearly superior to all of that though. :-)
@joelmw I haven't had homemade that beats creamery ice cream...and I like to make homemade.
The Blue Bell is the state flower of Texas. Long-time (several generations) Texans are almost unnaturally affectionate about the Blue Bell flower.
@MSticklefeather MEH should adopt it as their corporate flower!
@MSticklefeather Meh picked the rafflesia as their official company flower, and they're going to stink by it... I mean, stick by it.
@MSticklefeather Ummm. The state flower of Texas is the Bluebonnet, not the Blue Bell.
@kevin8er burn
Same bug that scared everyone from Rocky Ford cantaloupes
Read the label for any Blue Bell. They're gross, with or without listeria. .
@saodell I'd say the same for most ice cream brands out there.
@carl669 Even most of the small, local creameries near me load up their 'ice cream' with guar gum, locust bean gum, etc. That shit does not make for ice-cream-textured ice cream!
Blue Bell has a branding agreement with a large Midwestern ice cream truck fleet. Be aware if you have children and you live in the Midwest that the vendor who owns these trucks is NOT complying with the recall and is actively selling ALL his Blue Bell stock from his branded trucks! My son purchased a Blue Bell product from one yesterday without my knowledge! When confronted by me via telephone this afternoon, Blue Bell said the recall was voluntary (read: not government mandated) and that because the recall is "voluntary" there is no way that Blue Bell nor the FDA has in place to stop or prevent any retailer that has Blue Bell ice cream or novelties in their existing stock from selling it.
What a crock of SHIT. I really didn't care for Blue Bell all that much to begin with, but now I'll never buy another Blue Bell product again.
Fuckers.
@MrsPavlov While that definitely sounds horrible, I'm not sure what Blue Bell could really do about under-the-table sales of old stock. The recall is self-imposed, so it's not technically illegal. Most retailer distribution contracts have a clause to abide by recalls, so the fleet may be in violation of its contract, but it's not like Blue Bell has an army to send out and forcibly seize trucks of ice cream. Realistically, what can they do?
@Starblind If the recall had been mandated, the retailers could be sanctioned for selling old stock - they intentionally did the voluntary recall AHEAD of a mandated recall. They could also have built in better safeguards when it comes to voluntary recalls in their contract with their vendors. I called a local producer my husband works with from time to time who is also at the largest news station in town, they've been working on this story all day. He called back and said Blue Bell has admitted (via their media contact) that they have NO clause in their licensing agreement for trucks / kiosks / vending when it comes to voluntary recalls. So they've got tainted product they COULD have had at least some modicum of control over in this exact situation, but they chose to omit that language from their licensing agreements. Corporate irresponsibility at its finest.
@MrsPavlov Hopefully that recall language will end up in any new contracts, and when the current contracts come up for renewal.
@MrsPavlov It hasn't hit national media yet that I've seen, but if ever an issue needed pushing, this does.
@MrsPavlov You act like this was planned long ago by this evil company. They have been in business for a 108 years and this is their first recall ever. It's not like they have to have contingency plans so that your son won't buy black market icecream. Not every product is tainted. Most likely not many are. For a company to do a recall of ALL of it's product shows that they really care about their product and reputation. They could have said FU customers, we ain't recalling until the feds swoop in. So go ahead and freak out and call out a company for doing the right thing. That just means more Blue Bell for me when it comes available again.
@MrsPavlov It's a complete no-win situation for Blue Bell. If they do an early recall voluntarily, people will assume (as you have) that they're trying to dodge a mandatory recall. However, if they'd waited for a mandatory recall, they'd look even worse for waiting and thus putting people's lives at risk. Either way they look bad, but I'd say the voluntary recall is the safer choice.
I agree that their distribution contracts should have clauses that mandate cooperation with recalls. Remember, though, that this is a 100-year-old company, and the very concept of product recalls is fairly new: the CPSC began in 1972. The contracts may have been drafted long before recalls were a thing. But as mentioned, even if the trucks were in violation of their contract, there would be little to nothing Blue Bell could do about it other than send nasty letters.
@MrsPavlov the recall has been publicized so much that what happens now is dietary darwinism. Or like @joelmw said, "You go, listeria."
The fact that you are eating butter pecan identifies you as a member of the at-risk age group.
Being a Louisiana resident I can say that I have an affinity for Blue Bell. Especially King Cake when it's in season, and Creole Cream Cheese. I hope they make it through this PR nightmare for those reasons.
I've also spent about a year looking for more Magic Swirtle ice cream from Walgreen's. I've heard Penn Jillette say that it's available, but I can't get my hands on it since it went away after the Celebrity Apprentice contest ended. That was the best ice cream I've had from a store freezer.