Federal health officials were notified about Listeria contamination in a sample of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream more than a week before the company voluntarily recalled all of its products.

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration learned about the contaminated ice cream on April 15, the same day a sample tested by the Nebraska Department of Agriculture came back as positive for Listeria monocytogenes Type 1.

Nebraska officials randomly tested several brands of ice cream on April 2nd that was bought at a Whole Foods in Lincoln.

On April 16th, the day after being notified by Nebraska officials about the tainted ice cream, federal health inspectors sent a second sample to an FDA lab in Denver for further testing and confirmation.

On April 21 that sample came back as positive for listeria, and two days later Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams announced a voluntary recall of all of its products and temporarily closed all of its scoop shops until officials said all of their products were 100% safe. They announced their decision despite no reports of anyone becoming ill from the recalled products.

The FDA notified Jeni’s corporate offices about the discovered listeria contamination, but the FDA and Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams have not provided the date of that notification.

The sampling by Nebraska officials was “non-routine.” Like Ohio, food safety inspectors in Nebraska do not normally sample ice cream.

“However, NDA staff had discussed increasing the number of ice cream and artisan cheese testing they conduct,” said Christin Kamm, NDA public information officer, “and this sampling was part of the outcome of that discussion.”