Listeria Detected in Ice Cream

According to the CDC, an estimated 1,600 illnesses and 260 deaths occur every year in the United States due to listeriosis. In March of this year, the CDC reported an ongoing outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes infections that started in January 2014.

The outbreak consists of two clusters of illnesses that are linked to Blue Bell brand ice cream products. There have been a total of eight cases involving hospitalizations and three deaths in two states.

The first cluster of illnesses was reported from January 2014 through January 2015. All patients were from Kansas and all were hospitalized at a single hospital for unrelated problems before onset of listeriosis. Four of the five patients had consumed milkshakes made at the hospital with a Blue Bell brand ice cream product called "Scoops." Listeria monocytogenes sequences isolated from these patients were highly related to sequences of Listeria strains isolated from "Scoops" and two other products made on the same line at Blue Bell Creameries' Texas facility.

All products involved were recalled by Blue Bell Creameries on March 13, 2015. A list of all recalled Blue Bell Creameries products can be found on the CDC's website .

The three remaining patients were reported from Texas during 2011 through 2014. Like the patients from Kansas, they were all hospitalized before becoming ill. The sequences from the Listeria monocytogenes strains isolated from these patients closely matched strains isolated from ice cream manufactured at Blue Bell Creameries' Oklahoma facility.

Listeria monocytogenes is a ubiquitous organism and an intracellular pathogen. Notable virulence characteristics include its ability to replicate within host phagocytic cells and to spread from cell to cell by utilizing host actin. Consuming food contaminated with the bacterium is the most common way to acquire listeriosis. At least 90% of listeriosis patients belong to a higher risk group that includes pregnant women, adults 65 and older, and people with weakened immune systems. Listeriosis can have especially devastating consequences in pregnant women and can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, or life-threatening infection of the newborn.

L. monocytogenes , unlike most other foodborne pathogens, can grow at refrigeration temperatures, making it a particularly important pathogen for manufacturers of ready-to-eat type foods such as deli meats and hot dogs where post-process contamination can be an issue.

Listeria has also been found in uncooked vegetables, unpasteurized milk and dairy products made from unpasteurized milk, certain soft cheeses, and smoked seafood. Foods linked to outbreaks of Listeria in the past have included cantaloupes, ricotta and other soft type cheeses, mung bean sprouts, and apples intended to be used for a prepackaged caramel apple product.

L. monocytogenes colonies turn a turquoise color on the selective HardyCHROM Listeria plates.

L. monocytogenes is a significant public health concern and should be detected routinely where contamination can lead to risk of spreading the bacterium and causing infection. Isolation and detection of Listeria in food is recommended to be done with products such as Buffered Listeria Enrichment Broth (BLEB), LPM agar (Lithium Chloride Phenylethanol Moxalactam), Modified Oxford Medium, or PALCAM agar. In addition to these widely used products, Hardy Diagnostics also offers HardyCHROM Listeria (Cat No. G317), a chromogenic and selective medium for isolation of Listeria spp .from food and environmental samples, and Compact Dry LS (Cat No. LS100), a shelf stable, sample-ready medium, for the isolation, presumptive identification, and enumeration of Listeria spp. from food and environmental samples.

Alani Barajas

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