Blue Bell Not Finished Looking For Listeria In Factories, Company Says

Just days after that the U.S. Justice Department confirmed that it has launched an investigation into Blue Bell's culpability in its 2015 listeria scandal, Blue Bell has announced that, in keeping with its renewed commitment to food safety, customers should be aware that, "we have identified locations where suspected listeria species may [still] be present in our facility."

Thus far, none of the areas tested have been confirmed for the presence of listeria.

Blue Bell recently resumed distribution of its ice cream across select states, and says that since the company was cleared for production, no products have tested positive for listeria.

"We continue to strictly adhere to our enhanced operations, policies, employee training, and cleaning procedures to help give regulatory agencies and the public assurance that all aspects of our facilities and operations are resulting in a safe product," Blue Bell said in a statement on its website.

"We continually reinforce to our employees that eliminating all potential sources of contamination is our number one priority so that we can stay committed to producing safe and high quality products for customers to enjoy.

"Because Listeria is commonly found in the natural environment, no manufacturer can ever assume it can be entirely eradicated. We have worked closely with our expert team of microbiologists to develop an enhanced, robust testing system specifically designed for each facility to identify any possible presence of Listeria in the production environment, including extensive environmental testing and testing every single batch of ice cream we make before it is sold to customers."