9-03-2024 4:32am

LISTERIA BANKRUPTS

MD Company Behind Listeria-Tainted Ice Cream Files Bankruptcy: Report

In June, Owings Mills-based Totally Cool Inc. recalled items because they may have been tainted by Listeria. Almost 70 workers are jobless.

OWINGS MILLS, MD — The Maryland company that produced several brands of ice cream recalled due to possible listeria contamination has laid off nearly all of its employees and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to a Baltimore Banner report.

In June, Totally Cool, Inc., which makes products for companies including Friendly's, Hershey's, and Cumberland Farms, recalled several items because they possibly contained Listeria monocytogenes.

The contamination was discovered through an unannounced inspection on May 20, according to bankruptcy documents obtained by the Baltimore Banner. Over the next month, the plant recalled more than 60 products, including two ice cream flavors for Baltimore’s Taharka Brothers pints.

The products were distributed nationwide and were available in stores and through direct delivery. The FDA provided a list with photos of the affected products, identified by the date and plant information on the labels.

Totally Cool began as an ice cream shop in Carroll County before it branched out to sell more specialty desserts to restaurants, hotels and other private vendors, according to a 1998 Baltimore Business Journal article.

All but three of the company’s 71 employees lost their jobs when Totally Cool ceased all production, according to the Banner. The decision to stop manufacturing came three days after the Food and Drug Administration instructed Totally Cool to stop all production lines, leading the company to “suffer the loss of all revenue streams,” documents said.

Through filing bankruptcy, the company will be able to restructure and work toward paying back its between 50 and 99 creditors. Totally Cool’s liabilities are between $1 million and $10 million, while its assets are listed between $500,000 and $1 million, according to the Banner.

No illnesses were reported following the recall, according to the FDA.

Listeria can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy people may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea, listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.