Jeni's Ice Creams Finds Source of Its $2.5 Million Listeria Outbreak

Ohio-based ice cream company Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams has traced the source of its listeria outbreak. Last month, Jeni's —  which operates multiple scoops shops in addition to a national wholesale business — initiated a voluntary recall of all of its products after a random sample from a pint of ice cream showed that Listeria bacteria was present. A week later, the company announced that it destroyed over half of a million pounds of ice cream, which is estimated to have cost the company $2.5 million.

Now, according to the Chicago Tribune, Jeni's has found the source of the problem. The Listeria originated from a pint-filling machine in the company's Ohio production facility. CEO John Lowe tells the paper that the company "will never be sure how the bacteria got into the machine" but that it is putting $200,000 towards changes to ensure that it never happens again.

It has been a rough period for ice cream companies. In April, Blue Bell Creameries issued a voluntary recall of all of its products sold around the United States and internationally. The ice cream was contaminated with Listeria and linked to three deaths at a Kansas hospital and additional illnesses in Kansas and Texas.