COLUMBUS, Ohio – As Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams prepared to reopen its scoop shops in central Ohio and across the country following a listeria contamination, a report was released in which a federal inspector noted quality control and sanitation problems in the company’s production facility on Michigan Avenue.
READ MORE: In the Columbus Dispatch
According to the Columbus Dispatch, the inspection report from the federal Food and Drug Administration noted that company’s production kitchen lacked proper controls and employees failed to understand basic sanitation leading up to a listeria contamination last month, which led to a widespread recall and the closing of Jeni’s retail outlets.
Inspectors said Jeni’s director of operations and regulatory manager “demonstrated a lack of competency.”
They also said there was no environmental testing program; evening shift employees did not follow sanitation protocols; towels used to wipe food contact surfaces lacked sanitizer; no one was aware that the floor needed to be sanitized; the company allowed employees to work in the garden on the property without procedures in place to prevent contamination upon their return to work.
The company says it immediately addressed the concerns raised in the April 30 report.
“We dove in and made darn sure we fixed all of their concerns, and we brought in outside experts to help us find other areas of improvement to create a world class, safe environment for making our ice creams,” company officials wrote in a posting on its website.
The company also instituted “test and hold” procedures to stop any of its products from leaving the production facility until after it has been determined to be contamination-free.
The company said the FDA issued minor areas of concern about the kitchen after an inspection in 2013, which company officials say have been addressed, and cited no issues in 2014.
Nevertheless, the conditions found by inspectors this year are troubling, said Ahmed Yousef, an Ohio State University professor of food science and a food safety expert.
“In general, people look at the dairy industry as probably the most strict as far as safety goes. You enter modern dairy factories you become really impressed by the cleanliness,” Yousef said. “That report didn’t give me any impression that was the case (at Jeni’s).”
The FDA released the report Thursday after public-records requests by The Dispatch and others, and the company said it has taken extra measures to make sure its facility is safe.
“We have already fixed everything the FDA identified, and we’ve gone beyond the FDA’s recommendations,” read the website statement. “The ice cream we are producing for our opening comes from an overhauled kitchen, a significantly more trained team working from new ground rules that enable a safer environment.”
Jeni’s issued a blanket recall of all products on April 23, a day after learning that the FDA confirmed that a pint of Jeni’s Dark Chocolate ice cream bought at a Whole Foods in Lincoln, Neb., contained listeria.