Sam’s Club pulls all Blue Bell ice cream products

One of the country’s largest retailers has decided to pull Blue Bell ice cream from its shelves as a precautionary measure after Blue Bell announced it was temporarily closing an Oklahoma production plant.

Blue Bell spokesman Gene Grabowski confirmed Sam’s Club has halted sales. The dairy company based in Brenham, Texas, last month issued a recall after ice cream contaminated with listeriosis was linked to three deaths at a Kansas hospital.

Listeriosis is a serious infection usually caused by eating food contaminated with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Listeriosis primarily affects older adults, pregnant women, newborns, and adults with weakened immune systems, but the CDC said it rarely can sicken people without these risk factors.

The foodborne illness was tracked to a production line in Brenham and later to a second line in Broken Arrow, Okla. Blue Bell announced Friday it had stopped all production at the Broken Arrow plant.

Kroger spokeswoman Kristal Howard says the grocer has pulled items produced at the Oklahoma plant but continues to sell other products.

This story was originally published April 6, 2015 at 11:05 PM with the headline "Sam’s Club pulls all Blue Bell ice cream products."