Blue Bell Ordered To Pay $17.25 Million For 2015 Listeria Outbreak

The Department of Justice is slapping Blue Bell Creameries with $17.25 million in criminal penalties for a 2015 listeria outbreak.

The Brenham, Texas, based company pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts "of distributing adulterated ice cream products," the DOJ said in a statement.

Ice cream production facilities in Oklahoma and Texas were responsible for the 2015 listeria outbreak. Listeria is a rare food-borne illness that can cause vomiting and stomach pains, but cause meningitis and inflammation of the brain in more serious cases, according to the FDA. The outbreak linked to Blue Bell sickened ten people across four states and killed three people. Blue Bell pulled all of its products off store shelves and issued a recall in March 2015.

An FDA investigation of Blue Bell's facilities uncovered sanitation problems, including dirty water dripping "into product mix during the manufacturing process."

“American consumers must be able to trust that the foods they purchase are safe to eat,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Bossert Clark of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The sentence imposed today sends a clear message to food manufacturers that the Department of Justice will take appropriate actions when contaminated food products endanger consumers.”