In March, five patients at a hospital in Kansas developed listeriosis after eating ice cream from Blue Bell Creameries at the hospital, and three of those patients died. On Tuesday, CBS News reported the U.S. Department of Justice launched an investigation into Blue Bell.
Listeriosis is a life-threatening infection caused by eating food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. Usually older adults, pregnant women, newborns and people with weakened immune symptoms are affected.
According to the CBS report, the goal of the Department of Justice investigation is to determine how much Blue Bell management knew about the safety hazards in their plants, and when they became aware of the risks.
The DOJ is not the first federal body to look into the Blue Bell outbreak. In May, the Food and Drug Administration found the company knew that listeria was present in its Broken Arrow, Okla., plant as early as 2013, but failed to improve its sanitation programs.
More articles on listeria:
Blue Bell approved to resume ice cream production after listeria outbreak
10 latest disease outbreaks in the US
FDA releases documents on Blue Bell Creameries: 5 takeaways