It’s hard to convey to someone who isn’t from Texas just how big of a loss the recall of Blue Bell Ice Cream is. Even if other types of ice cream are most likely still safe (h/t Bob), this hits us deeply here in Texas. Blue Bell isn’t just a Texas-based ice cream brand that lots of people passionately love. To many Texans, Blue Bell is ice cream.

We have lost OUR ice cream!!!

Yes, yes, Ben & Jerry’s makes some phenomenal ice cream, but they’re from Vermont. Vermont is not Texas. They don’t understand ice cream the way we do. I’m not saying Blue Bell is better, per se, it’s just………well, it’s Texas.

We also have the phenomenally-awesome Amy’s Ice Cream here in Austin, but Amy’s is something of a destination, while Blue Bell is intended for home consumption. It’s just not the same.

It didn’t seem real to me until I went to the grocery store, and there they were….the empty freezer shelves, where once sat gallon upon gallon of creamy Brenham-made goodness:

I’m sorry Dreyer’s and Breyers*, but seeing you there, even with awesome flavors like Girl Scouts Thin Mints and chocolate-something-or-other, only makes the absence seem more pronounced.

In case you can’t read the notice in the above picture:

April 4, 2015

Blue Bell Products Voluntarily Withdrawn by H-E-B

SAN ANTONIO—Blue Bell Ice Cream has voluntarily recalled some of its products while it continues to work with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, H-E-B has decided to withdraw all existing Blue Bell products on its shelves as a precautionary measure due to food safety concerns. Working with Blue Bell, we will replenish our shelves with new product as soon as feasible.

Customers with concerns may return the product to H-E-B stores for a full refund. Customers with questions can contact H-E-B Customer Relations at 1-855-432-4438 between the hours of 8AM and 5PM Monday through Friday.

I appreciate the work of the FDA and everyone else, but just know how important and precious this ice cream is to us.

Oh, and also, fuck you, listeria.

Yeah, that’s right, I’m talking to YOU.

Photo credits: “Come and Take It” credited to Dell Billings, via chron.com; HEB freezer aisle photos by me, April 24, 2015; Listeria photo by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

* Apparently the Dreyer’s versus Breyers thing goes back to the 1980’s, with Breyers being big on the East Coast and Dreyer’s on the West Coast. To avoid legal confusion, Dreyer’s uses the brand name Edy’s on the East Coast. I never knew this because Blue Bell.