Blue Bell to return by end of month

Blue Bell Creameries will begin distributing ice cream to selected markets from the end of the month.

The production facility in Sylacauga, Alabama began producing ice cream in late July.

Blue Bell products were linked to an outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes which affected 10 people in four states and is believed to have been a contributing factor in three deaths .

Due to limited production capacity from the one plant, Blue Bell will re-enter parts of 15 states in five phases.

Blue Bell said it will move on to each phase based on product availability and when it can service customers in an area with no other dates having been determined.

The first will include the Brenham, Houston and Austin, Texas, areas, as well as parts of Alabama, (Birmingham and Montgomery) where the product is being made.

Sites in Brenham, Texas, and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma are still undergoing process upgrades similar to those made at the Alabama plant. 

Phase two includes north central Texas and southern Oklahoma, then Southwest Texas and central Oklahoma and phase four the majority of Texas and southern Louisiana.

Phase five will complete the states of Alabama, Oklahoma and Texas and begin distribution in Arkansas, Florida, northern Louisiana and Mississippi. 

This phase will also include only parts of Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. 

“Over the past several months we have been working to make our facilities even better, and to ensure that everything we produce is safe, wholesome and of the highest quality for you to enjoy,” said Ricky Dickson, vice president of sales and marketing for Blue Bell.