Eleven days after being notified that its ice cream was linked to a deadly Listeria outbreak, Big Olaf Creamery issued an ice cream recall. The Sarasota, FL-based ice cream company makes dozens of flavors of ice cream, all of them are included in the recall.
The recall includes all flavors and lot codes with expiration dates through 6/30/2022. The recalled ice cream was sold in plastic pint, half-gallon, and 2.5-gallon containers. It is served at ice cream shops, restaurants, and senior homes in Florida and one location in Ohio.
Big Olaf issued the ice cream recall on July 13, 2022, the same day that the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services issued a “stop sales” order for more than a dozen flavors of ice cream. In a statement, Erin Moffet, a department spokesperson, said nine of 100 environmental samples and 16 of the 17 Big Olaf ice cream flavors tested were positive for Listeria monocytogenes.
They were:
- Blueberry Cheesecake
- Butter Pecan
- Cherry Cordial
- Chocolate
- Chocolate Chip
- Coconut
- Coconut Almond Joy
- Cookie Dough
- Cookies & Cream
- Kahlua Krunch
- Mint Chip
- Pistachio
- Plantation Praline
- Superman
- Vanilla
- White Chocolate Raspberry
Big Olaf Listeria Outbreak
The Big Olaf ice cream Listeria outbreak includes 23 illnesses. One person has died and one pregnant woman has suffered a miscarriage. Although the illnesses were reported from 10 states, most of the patients either live in or visited Florida before developing symptoms of a Listeria infection.
Health officials used whole genome sequencing to identify the genetic fingerprint of the Listeria strain associated with this outbreak. The patients first became ill on dates ranging from January 24, 2021, through June 12, 2022.
Illnesses were reported from: Colorado (1), Florida (12), Georgia (1), Illinois (1), Kansas (1), Massachusetts (2), Minnesota (1), New Jersey (1), New York (2) and Pennsylvania (1).
Seniors, Pregnant Women at Heightened Risk
Symptoms of Listeria infection can take as long as 70 days to develop. They include high fever, severe headache, stiff neck, other muscle stiffness, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions. Among pregnant women, Listeria can cause miscarriage or stillbirth.
Pregnant women who can suffer a miscarriage or stillbirth even if they only experience mild symptoms of a Listeria infection. Seniors are at risk for more severe illness if they contract listeriosis. Half of the patients in this outbreak are between the ages of 72 and 92 years old. Five of the patients are women who developed listeriosis while they were pregnant. One of them suffered a miscarriage.
Experienced Listeria Lawyers
If you developed a Listeria infection after eating Big Olaf ice cream and would like to discuss your legal options, please contact our Listeria lawyers. Our Food Safety Team has more experience handling Listeria lawsuits than any other law firm in the country securing some of the largest Listeria settlements in U.S. history including a recent award of $6.4 million.
You can reach us by calling 1-888-377-8900, sending a text to 612-261-0856, or completing the form below. There is no obligation and we don’t get paid unless we win.