Outbreaks of Foodborne Illnesses and Recalls Associated With Ice Cream and Frozen Dessert Products
Reports in the literature indicate that ice cream has been associated with illnesses linked to numerous pathogens, including Listeria, which can cause severe illness
People in the U.S. consume an average of 21.2 pounds of frozen dairy products annually, drawing from the 6.4 billion pounds of ice cream and frozen desserts produced per year.1,2 According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) FoodNet Population Survey, approximately 53 percent of Americans consumed ice cream at least once in the past seven days.3 Unsurprisingly, production of ice cream peaks in the summer months, with June being the highest.4
Ice cream, as we use here, collectively represents commercial and homemade ice creams, frozen desserts, and novelties. Ice cream has been implicated in notable foodborne illness outbreaks prior to 2014, including an outbreak in 1994 that received extensive media coverage and was linked to a nationally distributed ice cream brand contaminated with Salmonellaenteritidis.5Between 3,000 and 5,000 cases of illness were reported, with 400 cases in 35 states confirmed by CDC. The source was identified when the outbreak strain of S. enteritidis was isolated from the implicated ice cream.6,7 Even earlier, an outbreak in 1940 of Staphylococcus aureus toxin poisoning linked to homemade vanilla ice cream is still used today as a case study in the training of new foodborne epidemiologists.8,9