Due to a possible listeria contamination, over 100,000 ice cream bars have been urgently pulled from shelves across 23 states, sparking significant health concerns.
Rich’s Ice Cream, headquartered in Florida, has issued a recall of specific products in more than 24 states such as Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas, as well as in the Bahamas, as reported by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Initially, on June 27, a recall was announced for 110,292 cases of these frozen desserts, and it was later upgraded to a Class II level, indicating the second highest risk, on July 17.
A ‘Class II’ distinction poses a risk that the ‘product may cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences.’
It is still unclear if any consumers of the frozen desserts have become sick or injured after eating them, but the recall is still considered ‘ongoing.’
The individually packaged ice cream bars were distributed across 23 US states and the Bahamas, according to the FDA notice.
The recall includes various products labeled with Lot Numbers #24351 through #25156, which should be discarded immediately.
The states include: Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.
More than 100,000 bars of Rich’s Ice Cream have been urgently recalled across 23 states due to a potential listeria contamination, raising serious health concerns (stock)
Listeriosis, a serious infection caused by consuming food contaminated with listeria monocytogenes bacteria (pictured), can lead to either invasive or intestinal illness
A total of 110,292 cases of frozen dessert products were initially recalled on June 27, but the recall was escalated to a Class II designation on July 17 – the second-highest risk level (pictured: Rich’s Ice Cream Strawberry Shortcake flavored)
The bacteria poses the greatest risk to pregnant women, newborns, older adults and individuals with weakened immune systems (stock)
The recalled ice cream bars from were also distributed to Nassau, Bahamas.
Listeriosis, a serious infection caused by consuming food contaminated with listeria monocytogenes bacteria, can lead to either invasive or intestinal illness, according to the CDC.
The bacteria poses the greatest risk to pregnant women, newborns, older adults and individuals with weakened immune systems.
Those infected may experience symptoms such as headaches, fever, altered mental status, difficulty walking and seizures.
According to the CDC, symptoms may also include a stiff neck and flu-like signs such as muscle aches and fatigue – typically appearing within two weeks of consuming contaminated food.
The recalled frozen bars from Rich’s Ice Cream include the following products:
- Chocolate Crunch Cake Bar
- Strawberry Shortcake Bar
- Rich Bar
- Crumbled Cookie Bar
- Orange Cream Bar
- Fudge Frenzy Bar
- Cotton Candy Twirl Bar
- Savagely Sour Blue Raspberry Bar
- Savagely Sour Cherry Bar
- Cool Watermelon Bar
Customers are encouraged to visit Rich’s Ice Cream website for detailed information on affected product labels.
