Agency classClass IOur severity:Critical FDA (Food)·F-2603-2015·Announced 2015-07-01

Blue Bell Ice Cream Birthday Cake Recalled Due to Listeria Infections

Blue Bell Creameries is recalling 3-gallon Birthday Cake ice cream after five patients in Kansas were infected with rare Listeria strains.

The agency’s classification

FDA (Food): Class I

Class I is a situation in which there is a reasonable probability that the use of or exposure to a violative product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death.

This is the agency’s own classification, taken from its notice. The severity score below is our assessment, not the agency’s. How recall classes work

What this means for you

Our assessment, not the agency’s: severity 5/5 (Critical).

Highest-severity recall. The hazard can cause serious injury or death. Stop using the product now and follow the agency's instructions.

Our severity reasoning: The source text explicitly reports that five patients were infected with Listeria monocytogenes, and the agency classification is FDA Class I, which meets the criteria for a Critical severity score.

Plain-English summary

Blue Bell Creameries, L.P. is recalling 28,546 units of Blue Bell Ice Cream Birthday Cake 3 Gallon. The recall is being conducted because five patients treated in a single hospital in Kansas were infected with one of four rare strains of Listeria monocytogenes.

The affected product was distributed in numerous U.S. states, including Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Indiana, Illinois, Montana, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Nevada, as well as in Bermuda, Belize, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, UAE, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Dominican Republic, Panama, Turks and Caicos, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, Puerto Rico, Chile, Peru, China, Mexico, Philippines, Tortola, St. Thomas, St. Croix, Anguilla, St. Kitts and Nevis, Montserrat, and Dominica.

Consumers should check their freezers for the recalled product and dispose of it or return it to the place of purchase. The source text does not specify specific lot codes, stating only that all lot codes within expiry are affected.

The recalled product

Product: Blue Bell Ice Cream Birthday Cake 3 Gallon
Manufacturer: Blue Bell Creameries, L.P.
Category: Food — Ice Cream
Hazard: listeria
Affected units: 28,546

Is your product affected?

Check your packaging against the codes below. If any of them match, the product is part of this recall.

Lot numbers (1)

all lot codes within expiry

Distribution

Distributed in 24 states:

Part of a larger recall action

This product is one of 286 recalled by Blue Bell Creameries, L.P. under a single FDA (Food) recall action. The agency files each product separately, so the size of the action is not visible from this page alone.

See all 286 products in this recall →

Same manufacturer · Blue Bell Creameries, L.P.

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