Contaminated ice cream linked to Sylacauga facility

A private laboratory in Miami has linked a strain of listeria to the Blue Bell Creameries plant in Sylacauga.

William Marler, a well-known food-borne illness attorney in Seattle, said his client's 75-year-old husband from Sanibel, Fla. was admitted to the hospital in April after becoming ill with meningitis. The man's wife, who had heard about the ice cream recall, retrieved a half-gallon of Blue Bell Cookies 'N Cream and took it to the state health department. Health officials there recommended she contact Marler to arrange for testing of the ice cream.

On May 6, Kappa Laboratories Inc. received a sample of the ice cream in a thermally-insulated foam cooler packed with dry ice that was contained inside a cardboard box. After nearly a month of testing Kappa Laboratories released its findings to Marler's client on Wednesday.

According to the report, the ice cream sample tested positive for listeria. Marler said the product code on the bottom of the ice cream container confirmed that it originated in Sylacauga.

Blue Bell Creameries -- which voluntarily recalled all of its products on April 20 after its ice cream was linked to 10 listeria illnesses in four states, and three deaths in Kansas says it's is reviewing the laboratory report.

Marler says the elderly man has since been released from the hospital. He is now undergoing rehab while a outside health expert reviews his medical records to determine whether his illness stemmed from listeria.