After a recall of all its products in April, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams conducted swab testing and has officially identified the source of its Listeria outbreak--a machine spout located in one of the company’s production facilities in Columbus, OH.

John Lowe, CEO of Jeni’s, says that the machine in question is used to fill some of their ice cream pints, not “to fill buckets that we scoop from our shops,” Lowe also says that how the machine became contaminated is still a mystery. However, the company will “spend whatever it takes” to fix the problem. Jeni’s plans to:

• destroy millions of dollars worth of ice cream (In April, the company said they’d destroyed 265 tons of ice cream, equivalent to $2.5 million)
• make necessary improvements to the Columbus, OH production facility (estimated at $200,000 minimum)
• schedule additional training for that local production team

According to Lowe, the company has “enlisted some of the world’s top food safety experts to help” with these efforts.

Jeni’s will be starting a test-and-hold program. This means that all finished batches will be tested for bacteria before they are shipped or distributed anywhere. The company plans to resume production “in the very near future”. A local farmer has offered full-time work to the production facility workers who are currently out of work while the Columbus, OH kitchen remains closed.