COLUMBUS, Ohio – Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams is destroying more than 265 tons of ice cream after listeria was found in the production facility and in products last week.
READ MORE: In the Columbus Dispatch
The product to be destroyed amounts to 15 tractor-trailer loads on more than 300 pallets. It will cost the company more than $2.5 million, CEO John Lowe said in a statement Tuesday
The company said last week that it had recalled all its products from retailers and closed ice cream shops in six states over concerns about possible listeria contamination.
The company issued a blanket recall on Thursday after a pint of Dark Chocolate from a Whole Foods in Lincoln, Neb., tested positive for listeria. Another pint, of Buckeye State, also tested positive, Lowe said in a statement. Tests at the company’s Michigan Avenue plant also revealed the presence of listeria.
“The all-hands-on-deck listeria eradication effort continues at our production kitchen,” Lowe said. “World class experts and our team are working together to ensure we get it all, finally and forever.”
Jeni’s employs 575 people. Employees who cannot work due to the recall, mostly scoop shop employees and kitchen workers, are being paid at rates of 25 percent and 50 percent respectively, according to Lowe.
“We have slashed budgets and spending in every way conceivable in an effort to avoid layoffs while we try to subsist without revenue,” Lowe said.
There is no word on how long Jeni’s will be shut down. The company will not produce product until it can be sure it is free of contaminants, Lowe said.
The company has not found the root of the listeria at its factory. Chocolate supplier Shawn Askinosie tested his facility and chocolate, no listeria was found, Lowe said. Smith’s Dairy in Orrville which supplies milk to Jeni’s has always tested for listeria before delivering product to Jeni’s, Lowe said.
Also last week, Texas-based Blue Bell Creameries closed facilities in three states for intensive cleaning after listeria was discovered.