Blue Bell is asking federal regulators for permission to drop precautions first instated following a listeria outbreak, according to the Houston Chronicle.
The Chronicle reports that Blue Bell has had to destroy millions of dollars in ice cream, due to a precaution that requires Blue Bell to destroy the product if it shows any indications of listeria.
Blue Bell is asking to remove that precaution and replace it with an approach that calls for product destruction on confirmation of contamination. Reports obtained by the Houston Chronicle show that Blue Bell has been working for months on a new testing procedure that would meet the requirements of the FDA.
Blue Bell currently screens products for Listeria monocytogens and then confirms its presence with lab cultures.
The company reportedly experienced several false alarms during testing in 2016, that forced Blue Bell to destroy 31 batches of ice cream.
