--- title: Blue Bell Ice Cream Slowly Returns to Stores description: Blue Bell Creameries resumed delivering ice cream to select markets on Monday after it had shuttered production and distribution when Blue Bell products were identified as a source of a multi-state listeria outbreak. canonical: https://time.com/4016907/blue-bell-ice-cream-returns/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-31T13:56:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T10:34:16.542Z article:section: Health og:title: Blue Bell Ice Cream Slowly Returns to Stores og:description: The ice cream is making its way back into select markets after spurring a listeria outbreak og:url: https://time.com/4016907/blue-bell-ice-cream-returns/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5ccd5c8dc33d2eb5/698861ac5f570f53a9b1d2e0/blue-bell-ice-cream2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Blue Bell Ice Cream. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Blue Bell Ice Cream Slowly Returns to Stores twitter:description: The ice cream is making its way back into select markets after spurring a listeria outbreak twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5ccd5c8dc33d2eb5/698861ac5f570f53a9b1d2e0/blue-bell-ice-cream2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Blue Bell Ice Cream Slowly Returns to Stores by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Aug 31, 2015 1:56 PM UTC  Blue Bell Ice Cream. Blue Bell Ice Cream.Jamie Squire—Getty Images by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Aug 31, 2015 1:56 PM UTC Blue Bell Creameries resumed delivering ice cream to select regions on Monday, several months after shutting down production when Blue Bell products were identified as the source of a multi-state listeria outbreak. The first deliveries of ice cream were made early Monday morning in Brenham, Texas, where a local NBC News station says freezers [were well stocked with Blue Bell ice cream](http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Blue-Bell-Returns-to-Central-Texas-Grocery-Stores-323404221.html). Blue Bell production was shut down earlier this year after it was determined that Americans were getting sick with listeriosis from consuming Blue Bell products. The multi-state outbreak hospitalized 10 people, and three people died. In April, Blue Bell recalled all of its products. **MORE:** [How Ice Cream Gets Contaminated—and Sometimes Kills](http://time.com/3744962/ice-cream-contaminated-kansas-blue-bell-creameries/) In early August, Alabama[ approved Blue Bell’s request](http://time.com/3987188/blue-bell-alabama-approves-production/) to resume production and delivery. Since the company still only has limited production capacity, it plans to re-enter 15 states in five phases. Monday began the first phase, which includes distribution to the Brenham, Houston and Austin, Texas areas and Birmingham and Montgomery, Ala. “Over the past several months we have been working to make our facilities even better, and to ensure that everything we produce is safe, wholesome and of the highest quality for you to enjoy,” Ricky Dickson, vice president of sales and marketing for Blue Bell, [said in a statement](http://cdn.bluebell.com/the%5Flittle%5Fcreamery/press%5Freleases/obtn-cmf-2009). You can see where Blue Bell will be distributing next, [here](http://cdn.bluebell.com/the%5Flittle%5Fcreamery/press%5Freleases/obtn-cmf-2009). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4016907/blue-bell-ice-cream-returns/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4016907/blue-bell-ice-cream-returns/"},"headline":"Blue Bell Ice Cream Slowly Returns to Stores","datePublished":"2015-08-31T13:56:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:34:16.542Z","description":"The ice cream is making its way back into select markets after spurring a listeria outbreak","url":"https://time.com/4016907/blue-bell-ice-cream-returns/","keywords":["Infectious Disease","outbreak","Ice Cream","listeria","Returns"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5ccd5c8dc33d2eb5/698861ac5f570f53a9b1d2e0/blue-bell-ice-cream2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5ccd5c8dc33d2eb5/698861ac5f570f53a9b1d2e0/blue-bell-ice-cream2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Blue Bell Ice Cream.","caption":"Blue Bell Ice Cream.","creditText":"Jamie Squire—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/infectious-disease/","name":"Infectious Disease"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4016907/blue-bell-ice-cream-returns/","name":"Blue Bell Ice Cream Slowly Returns to Stores"}}]}] ```