Ice Cream Recalled Due To Possible Listeria Contamination

Consumers may want to think twice before they reach for a spoonful of ice cream to help them cool down. Amid ice cream recalls, Life Raft Treats on Sept. 6 issued a nationwide recall for several of their ice cream products after the company's Not Fried Chicken ice cream treat tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes. Although only the Not Fried Chicken ice cream resulted in positive testing, the company has also recalled their Life Is Peachy Ice Cream treats because both products were manufactured in the same room, according to a recall notice shared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The recall includes the Not Fried Chicken 64 oz bucket, Not Fried Chicken 2.5 oz bar with UPC 8 60006 18210 6, and Life Is Peachy 6 count box ice cream products. All recalled products have Best By dates up to and including AUG 8212024 and were packaged in lamented buckets and plastic wrap. Life Raft Treats began shipping the products on Aug. 21 to distribution centers in Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, New York, South Carolina, and Texas. The ice cream treats were also shipped online directly to consumers located in all fifty states plus the District of Columbia.

The company issued the recall after the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) notified Life Raft Treats on Sept. 5 that their Not Fried Chicken ice cream treat tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes, the bacterium that can cause listeria infection. Listeria is a serious infection that can cause high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. In some cases, it can be fatal. The bacterium typically affects young children, frail or elderly people, pregnant women, and others with weakened immune systems. Although no illnesses have been reported at this time, the company and health officials have advised consumers who purchased the recalled products not to eat them. The ice cream treats should instead be discarded or returned to the place of purchase for a full refund.

The recall marks just the latest to hit the beloved frozen treat and follows Weis Markets Inc.'s Aug. 31 recall of containers of Weis Quality Brownie Moose Tracks Ice Cream. The products were recalled after it was found they may contain egg, an ingredient that wasn't listed. Just a day earlier, The Ice Cream House recalled all dairy ice cream products and non-dairy (parve) frozen dessert products. That recall was related Real Kosher brand's August recall of Soft Serve On The Go after two people were hospitalized. Also in August, the Washington State Department of Health confirmed that improperly cleaned ice cream machines at a Tacoma Frugals were linked to a listeria outbreak that hospitalized six people and left three dead.