Washington state health officials confirmed Wednesday that two King County men were sickened from listeria linked to a recall at Snoqualmie Ice Cream.
“It’s pretty scary because, I mean, if you think about it, a lot of people eat ice cream,” customer Earnest Tyson said outside Safeway.
Snoqualmie Ice Cream voluntarily recalled all its products made between January 1st and December 15th of 2014 after listeria was found at its production facility. Additional tests confirm listeria was found in ice cream already packaged and still stored at the factory.
“Both people became ill after consuming these products and they had the same strain of listeria that's in the products,” Washington state Department of Health spokesperson Donn Moyer said.
The first patient, a man in his 50s, was diagnosed with listeriosis at the end of November.
The other, also a man in his 50s, was diagnosed the first week of December.
Both had underlying health conditions and are now out of the hospital recovering.
Listeriosis symptoms include fever, muscle aches, and nausea, much like the flu. People can get sick anywhere from three to 70 days after exposure, although on average, people show symptoms within three weeks.
It can escalate into serious illness, bacterial meningitis, miscarriages in pregnant women or even death.
“It’s devastating,” said Snoqualmie Ice Cream owner, Barry Bettinger, of the bacteria discovery. “Very shocked because we take this very seriously.”
Snoqualmie's production facility will remain closed for one to two weeks while the facility is sanitized.
“When our ice cream is back on the shelves, it will be completely safe,” Bettinger said.
Molly Moon Neitzel, owner of Molly Moon’s, is closing because her company’s milk, sugar, and cream is pasteurized at Snoqualmie’s site.
Molly Moon’s threw away more than 3-thousand gallons of ice cream, worth more than $25,000.
“We are composting all of the ice cream, because ice cream is compostable, and then we are sanitizing all of our tubs, all of our ice cream machines, all of our utensils and starting fresh,” said Neitzel.
Molly Moon’s will return to working with the Snoqualmie facility.
Snoqualmie Ice Cream is sold at Safeway, QFC, Fred Meyer, Albertsons, Metropolitan Market, Whole Foods, and PCC stores, as well as some independent markets. The products have been pulled off the shelves or are in the process of being removed. Customers can return pints of ice cream to the stores for a refund.
Here is what has been recalled:
- All Snoqualmie ice cream, Snoqualmie gelato, Snoqualmie custard and Snoqualmie sorbet products with dates between Jan. 1 and Dec. 15, 2014
- All Emerald & Spruce ice cream, sold by Bartell Drugs, during the same time period
- All Top Pot Hand Forged ice cream during the same date range
- Pints and cups with date codes that end in "XXX4." That matches the production date range.
KIRO
