COLUMBUS, Ohio – Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams says it has traced the source of listeria in its Michigan Avenue production facility to a pint-filling machine.
CEO John Lowe says in a statement Wednesday that the company will never be sure how the bacteria got into the machine, which filled a portion of the pints for retail sales.
“We can now say that we believe we located the smoking gun,” said a statement posted on the company website. “Our swab testing found Listeria on the spout of one of our production machines…The machine was not used to fill buckets that we scoop from in our shops, but we are nonetheless continuing with our plan to dispose of all of those buckets.”
Efforts continue to clean the facility and Lowe says the company estimates it will spend about $200,000 on changes to make sure a similar doesn’t happen again.
“We’ll also be implementing a test-and-hold program, in which all batches of finished product will be tested for bacteria before shipping,” read the statement.
Jeni’s announced April 23 that it would recall retail products and close ice cream shops in six states after listeria was discovered in some pints and later in the factory.
The company said it would destroy 265 tons of ice cream worth more than $2.5 million.