Jeni's Ice Creams closes locations after second Listeria outbreak

Gourmet scoop shop Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams is shutting retail locations for the second time in less than two months after finding listeria in their production facility.

In an announcement on their website Friday, the company’s CEO John Lowe said production was stopped this week after the illness-causing bacteria was found through “routine swabbing,” he wrote.

It was caught before it got into any ice cream, Lowe said, and the shops are closing because they don’t have enough ice cream to stay open.

The company recalled ice cream products and closed retail shops in April after finding the bug in their Columbus, Ohio factory. It resumed production on May 13, and since then has tested every batch of ice cream for Listeria, Lowe said.

Jeni’s shops reopened May 22, and Lowe said Friday he has “complete confidence” that all ice cream served since then has been free of Listeria.

As for the cause of this latest outbreak, Lowe said the company is testing a theory – but has no timeline for when production will resume.

In May, Jeni’s said 265 tons of ice cream would be destroyed following the first outbreak and about $200,000 in changes would be made at the factory. At that time, the contamination was traced to a pint-filling machine.

Jeni’s has two Chicago-area locations in the Southport Corridor and Wicker Park.

Contributing: AP