Blue Bell gets green light to resume production after

After being hit by listeria bacteria, the US-based Blue Bell will resume its production at Alabama plant following the clearance from the State authorities that the plant satisfies all the quality standards pertaining to public health.

However, there's no specific date given to Blue Bell to restart the production and market its products in the market. 

Blue Bell spokeswoman Jenny Van Dorf said: "We're still finalizing our distribution plan. No date has been given for when Blue Bell products could be back in stores as flagship Brenham creamery and the broken arrow plant remains closed."

The officials at Public Health Department have given go ahead permission to resume operations at Blue Bell ice cream plant at Alabama. The officials found that there was no Listeria bacteria contamination in the products.

The privately-held ice cream maker had stopped production at its plants located in Alabama, Brenham, Texas, and Borken Arrow, Oklahoma, following the concerns about Listeria, bacteria that can cause serious illness. There were reports of 10 Listeria-hit illness cases across the four states.

The Listeria bacteria affected cases included three deaths as well. Following this, Blue Bell stopped production and issued a national recall in last April as its ice cream was affected with Listeria. 

Blue Bell has entered into an agreement with Alabama State Health Department and other departments in Texas and Oklahoma, enabling it to resume production. 

"A state inspection found that our ice cream in Sylacauga, Alabama, meets all State public health standards," said Ron Dawsey, Director of department's Division of Food, Milk and Lodging.

Listeria causes serious illness and more dangerous for old aged people, women with pregnancy and people with lower immunity system. Quoting Alabama health officials, it was reported that Listeria was found on a plant catwalk in the Alabama plant, but nothing found in ice cream samples.

It's almost 21 weeks after Blue Bell was forced to stop commercial production. The ice cream maker had submitted a 35-page reply to the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA). In its report, Blue Bell had explained in detail about the complete production process. Blue Bell also explained the department about what types of safety and health measures being adopted in the production chain. 

The reshuffle and regrouping activity at the company resulted in laying off some employees. The total headcount of the company was 4,000 before the layoff.

The state officials got into action following a suit filed against Blue Bell by a Florida retiree, who complained that he got sick after eating ice cream made in Alabama plant. Blue Bell's four plants were forced to close down in April as the Listeria reports impacted significantly. Blue Bell announced the first recall in March.