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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio-based Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams has reopened nearly all its scoop shops after a monthlong shutdown triggered by the discovery of listeria in some pints.
More than 75 people lined up for the reopening of a Jeni's scoop shop Friday in Columbus, the company's headquarters, The Columbus Dispatch reported (http://bit.ly/1FvfxMI ).
Jeni's recalled 535,000 pounds of ice cream and yogurt on April 23 after listeria was confirmed in some pints and later traced to a pint-filling machine in one of its factories. The company shut down its Michigan Avenue production kitchen and all of its 21 scoop shops for 29 days. Besides Ohio, Jeni's has shops in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Charleston, South Carolina and Nashville, Tennessee.
CEO John Lowe said on the company website that Jeni's has fixed all of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's concerns identified in an agency April 30 inspection report. The FDA found inadequate testing at the plant and said Jeni's managers were not sufficiently sanitizing some surfaces, including the floors. It also said residue was found on some equipment.
"We dove in and made darn sure we fixed all of their concerns," Lowe said.
Listeria is a type of bacteria that can cause food poisoning.
The recall cost the company more than $2.5 million. Jeni's also spent more than $200,000 on construction and other changes at its plant, which was overhauled and cleaned.
The company started production almost two weeks ago. Several Ohio ice cream producers offered to help with production, including Smith's dairy in Orrville, Jeni's said.
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Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com
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