Blue Bell Creameries L.P. was ordered by a federal court to pay $17.25 million in criminal penalties for sending out contaminated products linked to a 2015 listeria outbreak, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday.
The DOJ said Blue Bell pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of distributing adulterated ice cream products in May 2020.
The FDA, CDC and Blue Bell issued public recalls on March 13, 2015.
A second recall was announced 10 days later after tests confirmed listeria contamination at a Blue Bell facility in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.
Blue Bell temporarily closed down all of its facilities in late April 2015 to clean and update equipment.