Ice Cream recall: Hershey’s, Friendly’s, and 11 other brands may have Listeria contamination

If you recently bought an ice cream product that was distributed by Totally Cool, Inc. of Maryland, time to check the freezer: the company has recalled dozens of products across 13 name brands due to a possible Listeria contamination.

Per the notice posted by the FDA on Monday (June 24), while Listeria infection can cause illness and potentially be fatal, no illnesses have yet been reported due to the possible contamination. However, customers and ice cream fans definitely do not want to risk it, and are urged to return any potentially contaminated products to Totally Good, Inc.

The company will provide a full refund for any such products, and if you aren’t sure whether you bought an impacted product, you can call Totally Cool, Inc. at 410-363-7801, or email regulatory@totallycoolicecream.com. The phone line is open Monday through Friday, 8 am ET to 4 pm ET. 

Also of note, though Totally Good, Inc. is based in Maryland, the products were distributed nationwide. So regardless of what state you live in, if you bought one of the impacted products below, check the label immediately before eating.

The FDA has a helpful chart of products, as well as pictures and where to check the plant code and best by dates to see if your ice cream product is potentially affected. We’ve also posted a full list below.

Here are the brands impacted by the nationwide ice cream recall, per the FDA:

• Abilyn’s Frozen Bakery
• AMAFruits
• ChipWich
• Cumberland Farms
• Dolcezza Gelato
• Friendly’s
• The Frozen Farmer
• Hershey’s Ice cream
• Jeni’s
• LaSalle
• Marco
• Taharka
• Yelloh!

We’ve further broken down the products that are potentially impacted, below:

Abilyn’s Frozen Bakery

• Abilyn’s Frozen Bakery Vanilla & Chocolate 30 fl oz 6” Ice Cream Cake
• Abilyn’s Frozen Bakery Vanilla & Chocolate 60 fl oz 8” Ice Cream Cake
• Abilyn’s Frozen Bakery “For Love of Chocolate” Ice Cream Cake
• Abilyn’s Frozen Bakery “Cookies & Cream” Ice Cream Cake
• Abilyn’s Frozen Bakery “Cookie Dough” Ice Cream Cake 

AMAFruits

• 3 gal Acai Sorbet Tubs
• 3 gal Dragon Fruit Sorbet Tubs

ChipWich

• 4 fl oz The Original Vanilla Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwich 10 Club Pack, 3 Pack, 24 Pack
• 16 fl oz Vanilla Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Pint
• 16 fl oz Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Pint 

Cumberland Farms

• Cumberland Farms, Farmhouse Premium Ice Cream Sandwich, Rich Vanilla, 4 fl oz
• Cumberland Farms, Farmhouse Premium Ice Cream Sandwich, Marvelous Mint, 4 fl oz

Dolcezza Gelato

• 16 fl oz Mascarpone & Berries Ice Cream Pints
• 16 fl oz Roasted Strawberry Ice Cream Pints
• 16 fl oz Vanilla Bean Ice Cream Pints
• 16 fl oz Peanut Butter Mash and Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream Pints
• 16 fl oz Dulce de Leche & Cookies Ice Cream Pints
• 16 fl oz Stracciatella Ice Cream Pints
• 16 fl oz Peanut Stracciatella Ice Cream Pints
• 16 fl oz Swiss Chocolate Ice Cream Pints
• 16 fl oz Coffee & Cookies Ice Cream Pints
• 16 fl oz Hot Cocoa Ice Cream Pints
• 16 fl oz Sugar Cookie Dough Ice Cream Pints
• 16 fl oz Dark Chocolate Ice Cream Pints
• 16 fl oz Dark Chocolate Fudge Ice Cream Pints 

Friendly’s

• 60 fl oz Celebration Ice Cream Cake
• 40 fl oz Strawberry Krunch Ice Cream Cake 

The Frozen Farmer

• 4 fl oz Elf On the Shelf Santa`s Cookies Ice Cream Sandwiches
• 16 fl oz Elf On the Shelf Santa`s Cookies
• 16 fl oz Strawberry Sorbet Pints
• 16 fl oz Raspberry Sorbet Pints
• 16 fl oz Orange Cream Frobert Pints
• 16 fl oz Watermelon Sorbet Pints 

Hershey’s Ice cream

• 38 fl oz vanilla and chocolate flavored ice cream cake
• 110 fl oz vanilla and chocolate flavored ice cream cake
• 4 fl oz Cookies & Cream Ice Cream Cones
• 4 fl oz Cookies & Cream Polar Bear Ice Cream Sandwiches

Jeni’s

• 3.5 fl oz Chocolate Silk Pie Ice Cream Sandwiches
• 3.5 fl oz Key Lime Pie Frozen Dessert
• 3.5 fl oz Mint Chocolate Truffle Pie Ice Cream Sandwiches
• 3.5 fl oz Triple Berry Tart Pie Ice Cream Sandwiches 

LaSalle

• 16 fl oz Chocolate Ice Cream Pints
• 16 fl oz Vanilla Ice Cream Pints
• 16 fl oz Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream Pints
• 16 fl oz Vanilla Mango Ice Cream Pints
• 16 fl oz Vanilla Raspberry Ice Cream Pints
• 16 fl oz Vanilla Fudge Ice Cream Pints
• 16 fl oz Dulce De Leche Ice Cream Pints
• 16 fl oz Cookies & Cream Ice Cream Pints
• 16 fl oz Butter Pecan Ice Cream Pints

Marco

• 3.8 fl oz Dulce De Leche Ice Cream Sandwiches
• 3.8 fl oz Vanilla Chai Ice Cream Sandwiches
• 16 fl oz Dulce De Leche & Cookies Ice Cream Pints
• 16 fl oz Turkish Mocha Ice Cream Pints
• 16 fl oz Vanilla Chai Ice Cream Pints
• 16 fl oz Spicy Peanut Butter Caramel and Peanut Butter Caramel Ice Cream Pints
• 16 fl oz Moroccan Honey Nut Ice Cream Pints
• 16 fl oz Green Tea White Chocolate Ice Cream Pints
• 16 fl oz Aztec Chocolate Ice Cream Pints 

Taharka

• 16 fl oz Honey Graham Ice Cream Pints
• 16 fl oz Key Lime Pie Ice Cream Pints 

Yelloh!

• 4 fl oz Vanilla Nut Ice Cream Sundae Cones
• 4 fl oz Vanilla Fudge Ice Cream Sundae Cones
• 4 fl oz Pecan Praline Ice Cream Sundae Cones
• 4 fl oz Chip & Mint Ice Cream Sundae Cones
• 4 fl oz Cookies & Cream Ice Cream Sandwiches 
• 4 fl oz Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches 

If you’ve purchased any of the above products, return it or dispose of it immediately.

What is Listeria?

As mentioned above, a Listeria infection can be potentially fatal, or cause other nasty side effects. Before we get into explaining what Listeria is and what it does, I want to be very clear: this is not a medical website. I am not a doctor. I wrote about this because I write about ice cream for a living. This is a pretty serious subject, and if you are worried that you might be suffering from side effects of Listeria -- if, for example, you ate one of the above items and are feeling off -- call a doctor immediately, or head to your nearest urgent care. Best case they'll say you suffered psychosomatic effects from eating ice cream and then reading a piece about how it could possibly get you sick. But better safe than sorry.

You can also check out the CDC's page all about Listeria, and the infection, which is called Listeriosis. They are the Center for Disease Control, and again, have a better handle on this whole thing than a site called "Guilty Eats."

To sum it up in brief, Listeria monocytogenes is a bacteria that can survive without oxygen, hence how it's sometimes found in pre-packaged food, like ice cream. If you do ingest the bacteria, it's possible you can get Listeriosis, which can lead to illness or death, particularly for those 65 and older, newborns, pregnant women, or anyone with a pre-existing medical condition. In the course of a year, about 1600 people nationwide get sick with Listeriosis, per the CDC, and about 260 die.

The symptoms of Listeriosis vary wildly across the spectrum including fever, muscle aches, headaches, diarrhea, and vomiting, and range up to seizures and of course death.

Again according to the CDC, pregnant women may suffer from milder symptoms, but the gestating infant is far more at risk. Meanwhile, non-pregnant people are more at risk, with 1 in 20 people dying of the illness. This is why companies like Totally Cool, Inc act so swiftly when there's a threat of a potential outbreak.

So there you go! That's what Listeria is, that's what Listeriosis is, and I'm still not a doctor so please, if you have concerns or feel like you might have symptoms, stop reading this website and go talk to a professional ASAP. Thanks.

This articles has been updated to include additional information about Listeria and Listeriosis.