Health inspectors found crickets, mildew at Blue Bell plant

State health inspectors found crickets in a storage room, dirty mop buckets and mildew at Blue Bell’s ice cream production plant in Brenham, according to records obtained by NBC5.

The Texas Department of State Health Services found more than a dozen issues during inspections conducted from Jan., 1, 2011 to April 15, 2015, according to documents NBC5 obtained under the Texas open records law.

A health department spokeswoman has repeatedly described the iconic Texas company’s inspection track over the years as “good” with “very few issues, and none that required a warning letter or penalty.”

Questions about the cleanliness at the ice cream maker’s four plants, including two in Texas, were raised after health officials found evidence of Listeria in some of Blue Bell’s products. The company has said it found traces of Listeria, a potentially deadly bacteria, on two lines in two plants – one plant in Brenham and one in Oklahoma.The company this week launched intensive training and cleaning sessions at all four of its plants. The move, which includes disassembling and swabbing equipment, comes one week after Blue Bell launched a recall of all of its products.

Read more: http://bizbeatblog.dallasnews.com/2015/04/health-inspectors-found-crickets-mildew-at-blue-bell-plant-report.html/