Oh no, so soon after the meatballs are back in business?
International purveyor of self-assembled furniture and Scandanavian hors d’ouvres was recently throwing into the deep end of the horsemeat scandal when traces of horse DNA were found in their popular Swedish meatballs. Just yesterday, the IKEA in Malaysia declared that they were “all clear”.
But it seems that IKEA just can’t get a break.
According to the Guardian, IKEA’s almond cakes from its restaurants in 23 countries are being pulled after bacteria usually found in fecal matter was discovered. Also known as the Tarta Chokladkrokant cakes, the product is described as almond cakes layered with chocolate, butter cream and butterscotch The Swedish retailer has since stopped sales of its almond cakes after Chinese custom authorities found two batches that fell short of the country’s hygiene standards.
After tests revealed that the cakes contained a prohibitively high relief of coliform bacteria (a type of bacteria that can be found in soil, vegetation, as well as in the feces of humans and warm-blooded animals) the customs officials seized and destroyed a batch of 1,800 cakes imported from Sweden.
In an official statement, IKEA said:
There is no health risk associated with consuming this product. The production batches have, as per safety and quality routines, been tested for bacteria that can cause health issues, such as E coli, and none of these pathogen bacteria have been found. However, since the product does not comply with our strict food quality standards we have decided to withdraw the concerned production batches from sale in the 23 affected countries. The UK and Ireland are not affected.
Good luck with that, IKEA!
Sources: The Guardian, TIME.