Officials: Listeriosis not cause of 3 deaths, may be factor
foodborne illness linked to some Blue Bell ice cream products might have been a contributing factor in the deaths of three hospital patients in Kansas, health officials said Saturday.
But listeriosis didn’t cause the deaths, according to Kansas Department of Health and Environment spokeswoman Sara Belfry...
The five patients became ill with listeriosis during their hospitalizations for unrelated causes between December 2013 and January 2015. But hospital spokeswoman Maria Loving said she couldn’t discuss why the patients were hospitalized, citing patient confidentiality laws.
According to the CDC, information available for four of the five patients shows they had eaten while hospitalized milkshakes made with Blue Bell ice cream product called “Scoops” in the month before the infection.
The FDA says listeria bacteria were found in samples of Scoops, as well as Blue Bell Chocolate Chip Country Cookies, Great Divide Bars... No Sugar Added Moo Bars.
Blue Bell spokeswoman Jenny Van Dorf said the company has recovered all recalled products from all 23 states where they were sold, as well as those that were in storage....
Van Dorf said the machine that the contamination was traced to has been shut down permanently....
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/3-kansas-hospital-patients-die-of-ice-cream-related-illness/2015/03/13/7ba9a2e0-c9de-11e4-bea5-b893e7ac3fb3_story.html?tid=pm_business_pop
Cause of deaths still not clear...
