Ice cream bars sold in 23 states recalled over listeria risk
The Food and Drug Administration Authority (FDA) announced July 17 that Florida-based Rich's Ice Cream Co. is recalling select products due to potential listeria monocytogenes contamination.
The recall, which impacts lot number 24351 through lot 25156 was initiated on June 27, according to the FDA notice and is classified as Class II with a total of 110,292 cases potentially affected. A Class II recall is "a situation in which use of, or exposure to, a violative product may cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences or where the probability of serious adverse health consequences is remote," the FDA website states.
USA TODAY was unable to reach Rich's Ice Cream for comment on July 21.
Which Rich Ice Cream products are included in the recall? See list
The affected products, sold in multiple states, according to the FDA advisory, include:
Chocolate Crunch Cake Bars
Strawberry Shortcake Bars, Rich Bars
Crumbled Cookie Bars
Orange Cream Bars
Fudge Frenzy Bars
Cotton Candy Twirl Bars
Savagely Sour Blue Raspberry Bars
Savagely Sour Cherry Bars
Cool Watermelon Bars
The frozen treats were individually packaged in plastic bags and sold in master cases.
More recalls: Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar among over 738,000 vehicles recalled: Check car recalls
Which states are impacted by the recall? See list
The affected products were distributed across 23 states, according to the FDA notice, including:
Arizona
Alabama
Ohio
California
Pennsylvania
Georgia
New York
New Jersey
Florida
Texas
Virginia
Illinois
Missouri
Massachusetts
Tennessee
Iowa
South Carolina
Oregon
Oklahoma
Nevada
Louisiana
Wisconsin
Nebraska
They were also sold in Nassau, the capital of The Bahamas.
What should you do if you purchased the affected products?
FDA and Rich Ice Cream Co. have not yet specified what remedies are available for customers. Rich Ice Cream Co. did not immediately reply to USA TODAY's request for a statement and more information on the recall.
Customers, meanwhile, can visit Rich Ice Cream Co.'s website for more information and to contact the company.
Listeria poisoning symptoms
Listeriosis, or listeria poisoning, is a foodborne bacterial infection most commonly caused by the bacterium listeria monocytogenes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is considered a serious condition and can be dangerous or life-threatening, especially to older adults, people with weak immune systems, and pregnant women.
Listeria is the third leading cause of death from foodborne illness in the U.S., according to the CDC. The agency estimates that the disease impacts 1,600 Americans each year, with approximately 260 people dying from those infections.
Symptoms include, per the CDC:
Fever
Muscle aches
Headache
Stiff neck
Confusion
Loss of balance
Convulsions
Diarrhea
Other gastrointestinal symptoms
Miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery and/or life-threatening infection of newborn infants
Death
People in higher-risk categories who experience flu-like symptoms within two months after eating contaminated food should seek medical care.
Contributing: Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ice cream recall: Rich's Ice Cream recalls more than 100,000 bars
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Axios
15 minutes ago
- Axios
Feds launch crackdown on kratom byproduct
Federal health officials are launching a new campaign to control the distribution of an opioid substance derived from the kratom plant known as 7-OH that's sometimes referred to as "legal morphine." Why it matters: The compound, 7-hydroxymitragynine, is commonly sold online and in smoke shops and has been found in dangerous concentrations in tablets, gummies and drink mixes. Driving the news: FDA and Drug Enforcement Administration officials said Tuesday they are taking steps to schedule the compound as a controlled substance and released a report on its risks to educate the medical community, schools and parents. The FDA has also issued warning letters to seven companies for illegal marketing products containing 7-OH. The products advertise the compound as an added ingredient, or being included at enhanced levels. Distributors claim products with the substance act as "unapproved new drugs with unproven claims such as relieving pain and managing anxiety," the agency said. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. referenced his own history with heroin addiction at a Tuesday event promoting the crackdown, during which he described the importance of cracking down on the easily available synthetic opioid. "I became an addict because [heroin] was so available, but I had to go to the South Bronx or the Lower East Side. But now you can go to any gas station," Kennedy said. "They're putting them around schools, putting them in our poorest neighborhoods and now they are putting them in every gas station," he continued. "They're marketing them to children, they're gummy bears, they're bright colors, they're candy flavored. This is really a sinister, sinister industry." Officials said they are not targeting the herbal supplement kratom but the byproduct. Research has shown 7-OH can be 13 times more potent than morphine, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said. "7-OH is not just 'like' an opioid ... it is an opioid," Makary said. "And yet it is sold in vape stores, in smoke shops, in convenience stores, in gas stations that are popping up around the United States. And no one knows what it is." He declined to weigh in on the safety of kratom products, which have intoxicating effects and have been the target of new and proposed restrictions in Colorado and Louisiana. "Lets not let another wave of the opioid epidemic catch us blind-sided again," Makary said. The move was cheered by some kratom proponents who say the agency's action differentiates what's illegal from legitimate products. "For too long, the conversation around kratom has been polluted by bad actors and misinformation," said Paula Brown, director of Natural Health & Food Products Research at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. "FDA's data now supports what pharmacognosists have known for years: kratom is not a narcotic, and 7-OH is not a natural constituent of the plant. Differentiating them is both scientifically necessary and ethically urgent." The other side: "Over half a billion doses of 7-OH have been used without a single confirmed death. That's not a threat to public safety—that's a success story," said Jeff Smith, National Policy Director of the Holistic Alternative Recovery Trust (HART). "This compound deserves to be regulated like any responsible product."
Axios
15 minutes ago
- Axios
Kratom 7-OH: What to know about the supplement dubbed "legal morphine"
The FDA is cracking down on a potent compound found in kratom supplements: 7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH. Why it matters: Products with 7-OH — which acts like an opioid and has been dubbed " legal morphine" by researchers — have surged in popularity. The latest: On Tuesday, the FDA recommended more regulation of 7-OH products, and warned consumers about their risks. Last month, the FDA sent a letter to companies about the illegal marketing of 7-OH products, calling them potentially dangerous and unproven. By the numbers: Federal survey data from 2021 suggests around 0.7% of Americans 12 and older use kratom products, but recent estimates from the American Kratom Association and Journal of Psychoactive Drugs put usage at 9.1% — or over 20 million people. Catch up quick: Kratom extracts were introduced to the market in September 2023 — five years after the DEA announced an intention to ban kratom. In the years since, "it was like an unofficial war between these manufacturers to see who could get the most potent extract product out there," says Chris McCurdy, a professor of medicinal chemistry at the University of Florida who's studied kratom for over 20 years. What is kratom "Kratom" can refer to the plant or powdered leaf — or kratom-derived concentrates in forms like tablets, gummies, drink mixes and shots that are available in some smoke shops and gas stations. The supplement is typically pronounced "kray-tom" in the U.S., but the plant found in Southeast Asia is called "kruh-TOM," McCurdy says. It's been marketed as a mood booster, pain reliever and remedy for symptoms of quitting opioids, but that doesn't mean all kratom products are " natural and safe," according to the Mayo Clinic. Is kratom dangerous? Kratom leaf products are like "a light beer" in terms of potency, McCurdy says. But once you extract and concentrate compounds like OH-7 — removing the natural plant material — he says you're closer to Everclear, the grain spirit that can be 95% alcohol by volume. The kratom plant has OH-7 only in trace amounts, but potency in herbal supplements varies widely. OH-7 "is a pure opioid," McCurdy says. That means it interacts with opioid receptors just like prescription opioids would, so researchers warn it could be highly addictive. "It's more potent than morphine in treating pain in animals," McCurdy says. "The fact that it's available without a prescription is really problematic." Another potential danger: Residual oxidants and other contaminants could remain in concentrated kratom products made in unregulated labs. The big picture: As of March, 24 states regulate kratom or its components in some manner, per the Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association.
Yahoo
44 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Novo Nordisk outgoing CEO blames compounded GLP-1s for decline in 2025 outlook
Novo Nordisk's (NVO) downward guidance Tuesday sent its stock diving 20%, even as new leadership remains bullish on the company's ability to maintain a market lead in the obesity drug space. The maker of GLP-1 drugs Ozempic and Wegovy cut sales grown from 13%-21% down to 8%-14% for the year. That's about half, on the higher end, of the 26% growth seen in 2024. Outgoing CEO Lars Jøregensen told reporters Tuesday that the compounding, or copycat, market in the US is to blame. That is one of two key issues that appear to have taken the company by surprise. First was the shortage of both its GLP-1 drugs after they unexpectedly zoomed to popularity, creating a new weight-loss drug market. Jørgensen said that the prevalence of compounded products, which are now restricted after the FDA declared an end to the shortage, is to blame. "Despite the fact that it is now illegal ... it's still happening. And that's one of the assumptions in the prior guidance, that that would be reduced significantly. And we see, actually, that is actually the same volume as we saw earlier in the year, around a million patients using a compounded product," Jørgensen said. The compounded products include those from Novo's ex-partner, Hims & Hers (HIMS), which continues to sell the products based on a loophole in FDA rules that allows it to sell "personalized" products for patients who might have negative reactions or side effects to branded drugs — such as common GLP-1 side effects like nausea or dizziness. Novo recently ended its direct-to-consumer sales deal with Hims after the telehealth firm declined to stop selling compounded semaglutide vials. The result has been a loss in the company's first-to-market position, with competitor Eli Lilly (LLY) taking a harder stance, most recently lobbying Congress to help enforce the FDA rules and rid the market of compounding. Jørgensen said Tuesday, "Ultimately, compounding will disappear. But it will take some time before it's completely out of the market and we have a fair chance of regaining our fair share (of the market)." Incoming CEO Mike Doustdar, who has served as Novo's executive vice president of international operations, said the decline of the company's stock, and therefore shareholder value, is disappointing. "I don't like it as an employee ... as a CEO-elect, and I certainly don't like it as a shareholder myself. But setbacks don't define companies, our response does," Doustdar said, adding that the guidance cut reinforces his mandate to put the company back onto a growth path. Anjalee Khemlani is the senior health reporter at Yahoo Finance, covering all things pharma, insurance, provider services, digital health, PBMs, and health policy and politics. That includes GLP-1s, of course. Follow Anjalee as AnjKhem on social media platforms X, LinkedIn, and Bluesky @AnjKhem. Click here for in-depth analysis of the latest health industry news and events impacting stock prices
