CDC Advises that People in Florida Not Eat, Serve, or Sell Big Olaf Creamery Ice Cream

An update to CDC’s Food Safety Alert regarding a multistate outbreak of Listeria infections linked to ice cream has been posted: https://www.cdc.gov/listeria/outbreaks/monocytogenes-06-22.html

Key points:

• CDC is concerned that Big Olaf Creamery ice cream could still be in people’s homes or available for sale in stores in Florida. This ice cream is sold in Florida in Big Olaf Creamery stores and in stores with different company names.
• CDC advises that people do not eat, serve, or sell Big Olaf Creamery ice cream. If people have Big Olaf products at home, they should throw them away.
• The case count remains the same as it was on June 29, 2022.
  • 23 people infected with the outbreak strain have been reported from 10 states. Nearly all the people live in or traveled to Florida about a month before they got sick.
  • 22 people have been hospitalized and one death has been reported from Illinois. The person who died was not pregnant.
  • Five people got sick during their pregnancy, and one illness resulted in a fetal loss.
• Pregnant people and their newborns, adults aged 65 and older, and people with weakened immune systems are at higher risk for severe Listeria infection.
• People at high risk who have symptoms of a Listeria infection should contact their healthcare provider.
• Healthcare providers should report listeriosis illnesses to their health department.

About Listeria:

• Listeria can cause severe illness (known as invasive listeriosis) when the bacteria spread beyond the gut to other parts of the body.
• Pregnant people typically experience only fever, fatigue, and muscle aches. However, Listeria infection during pregnancy can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, or life-threatening infection of the newborn.
• People who are not pregnant may experience headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions, in addition to fever and muscle aches.
• Symptoms of severe illness usually start within two weeks after eating food contaminated with Listeria but may start as early as the same day or as late as 70 days after.

If you have questions about cases in a particular state, please call that state’s health department.

Thank you,
CDC News Media Branch
404-639-3286
media@cdc.gov

###
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

CDC works 24/7 protecting America’s health, safety and security. Whether disease start at home or abroad, are curable or preventable, chronic or acute, or from human activity or deliberate attack, CDC responds to America’s most pressing health threats. CDC is headquartered in Atlanta and has experts located throughout the United States and the world.