This is a sad story. I’m not quite grasping why they have to layoff. Didn’t they just pull the bad batches from stores?
I think they had to close the whole factory and they are still cleaning, they don’t know when they will reopen.
I am just learning about listeria, but from what I hear it is extremely difficult to get a production facility clean once it has been contaminated. They almost have to disassemble the whole factory and build a new one. There was some speculation recently that when Walmart mysteriously announced "plumbing problems" at a few stores and that they would be closed for six months, that this was really a listeria outbreak at those stores.
When the public forgets...sales pickup...those laid off get reemployed.
It's no great mystery for me, and I had never heard of Bluebell before this event.
The fundamental cause was neglect of conditions and procedures that allowed the invasion of Listeria.
That this element of the event is not discussed is extremely significant to me.
Short description : unsanitary conditions and procedures.
That creates a HUGE task.