North Texas Ice Cream Shop Can't Wait To Switch Back To Blue Bell
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FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - On a hot summer evening, families enjoy ice cream at Sweet Sammie's in Fort Worth. The mom and pop shop is known for homemade cookies and for the Blue Bell ice cream it used to sandwich in between.
"It's tough. We were worried at first," says manager Kory Close.
Since late April, purple tape has covered the Blue Bell logo on the menu. A listeria outbreak, traced to several Blue Bell plants forced the Brenham based company to recall all of its products.
Close says they were forced to adapt--now serving Blue Bunny instead. They saw a slight dip in sales, but Close says bad weather may have also contributed. Summer means customers are steadily pouring in, but they constantly ask for Blue Bell updates.
While his 2-year-old Caiden enjoys a scoop of the new stuff, customer Coby Bird says it's no Blue Bell.
"Homemade Vanilla Blue Bell is the best ice cream ever. I think God will probably serve that in heaven," says Bird.
Customers say they they are ready to give Blue Bell a second chance.
"You think every time someone goes through a difficult situation like this they're going to be hypersensitive to make sure everything is done as well as it can be," says Bird.
"Blue Bell is our ice cream of choice. Honestly, I don't think we've bought ice cream for the house since," says customer Juliette Smith.
The company must notify Texas health officials two weeks before it intends to resume production so both the state and company can test samples.
The samples must consistently test negative for listeria before the ice cream can be distributed and sold.
