WASHINGTON — There’s more bad news for Blue Bell this morning.
According to CBS News, the Department of Justice has launched an investigation into the company concerning the listeria outbreak that took place earlier this year.
Three people died, and several others became sick as a result of that outbreak.
Blue Bell recalled their ice cream in April 2015.
The FDA found the bacteria in all three of Blue Bell’s plant, but CBS News has also learned there were other things that came to light during that investigation.
Investigators found condensation dripping directly into the ice cream.
Gerald Bland, who worked at the factory in Texas, told the news station when it would rain, water would drip from the roof into the product.
In addition, the company had other unsanitary conditions, which they reportedly knew about as early as 2013.
Another employee, Terry Schultz, said he went to management several time reporting problems he saw around the plant.
Their response, he said, wasn’t what he was expecting.
“The response I got at one point [from management] was, ‘is that all you’re going to do is come here and bitch every afternoon?'”
He told CBS News he took that to mean production was more important than cleanliness.
Now with their own investigation underway, the Department of Justice will have to figure out exactly when management knew about the deadly hazards in their plant and when .
