$19 Million in Fines for Blue Bell; Former President Also Charged with Concealing Listeria Contamination
Last week, Blue Bell Creameries agreed to plead guilty to charges that the company shipped contaminated products linked to a 2015 Listeria outbreak. Also, the company’s former president was charged in connection with a scheme to cover up the incident.
A U.S. Department of Justice press release describes the Texas-based ice cream manufacturer’s guilty plea to two misdemeanor counts of distributing adulterated ice cream products. Blue Bell must pay a criminal fine and forfeiture amount totaling $17.25 million. The company also agreed to pay an additional $2.1 million to resolve civil False Claims Act allegations regarding the ice cream products manufactured under unsanitary conditions and sold to federal facilities. The total $19.35 million is the second largest amount ever paid in the resolution of a food safety matter.