A dairy company is voluntarily recalling ice cream bars sold at Kroger, Jewel, Aldi and dozens of other store chains in the U.S. and Puerto Rico due to possible listeria contamination.
At issue are are orange cream bars, raspberry cream bars, chocolate-coated vanilla ice cream bars and variety packs including those flavors, made in 2017 at Fieldbrook Foods' Dunkirk, N.Y. plant on the Hoyer 1 Line.
Routine testing discovered Listeria monocytogenes in a few ice cream bars and during subsequent sampling, according to the company. Production and distribution of all items manufactured on that line have been halted.
Listeria may cause serious or fatal infections in young children, the elderly and people who have weakened immune systems, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The organism may cause high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea in otherwise healthy people and miscarriages and stillbirths in pregnant women.
"There is no evidence of any contamination prior to Oct. 31, 2017, but the company has issued the recall back to Jan. 1, 2017, through an abundance of caution and in full cooperation with the FDA," Fieldbrook Foods said in a statement.
People who purchased the ice cream bars are asked to return them to the stores where they bought them for a full refund. Customers with questions may call Fieldbrook Foods at 800-333-0805 x2270.
The recall began on Jan. 5 with Tops Orange Cream Bars sold in Tops stores in New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Vermont and Purple Cow Orange Cream Bars sold at Meijer stores in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Wisconsin. Four days later, Fieldbrook Foods expanded the recall to include all orange cream bars and chocolate coated vanilla ice cream bars made on the affected production line. On Thursday, Fieldbrook Foods added raspberry cream bars.
This is the complete list of the retailers and the brand names of the affected ice cream bars they sell:
Acme -- Lucerne
Aldi -- Sundae Shoppe
Amigo (Puerto Rico only) -- Great Value
Bi Lo -- Southern Home
BJ's -- Wellsley Farms
Demoulas -- Market Basket
Dillon -- Kroger
Dollar Tree -- Party Treat
Econo (Puerto Rico only) -- Econo
Food 4 Less -- Kroger
Fred Meyer -- Kroger
Fry's -- Kroger
Giant -- Ahold symbol
Giant Eagle -- Giant Eagle
Harveys -- Southern Home
Jewel -- Lucerne
King Soopers -- Kroger
Kroger -- Kroger
Meijer -- Purple Cow
Price Chopper -- PIC
Price Rite -- Price Rite
Ralphs -- Kroger
Safeway (DC/DE/FL/MD/VA) -- Lucerne
Save-A-Lot -- World’s Fair
Shaws -- Lucerne
Shoprite -- Polar Express
Shoprite -- Shoprite
Smart & Final -- First Street
Smith's -- Kroger
Star -- Lucerne
Stater -- Stater
Stop & Shop -- Ahold symbol
Tops -- Tops
Various -- Food Club
Various -- Greens
Various -- Hagan
Various -- Hood
Various -- Kemps
Various -- Stoneridge
Walmart (Puerto Rico only) -- Great Value
Weis -- Weis
Winn Dixie -- Winn Dixie
All have 2018 best-by dates, except the Hood and Kemps products, which may have best-by dates as late as June 30, 2019.
The plant code is 362677.
