Post date: Mar 05, 2013 10:19:19 PM
A range of cakes at IKEA are destroyed by Chinese authorities, saying they were contaminated with bacteria, but the maker of the cakes says the product was safe when it left Sweden.
ALMHULT, SWEDEN (REUTERS) - Swedish furniture giant IKEA on Tuesday (March 5) halted the sale of a range of almond chocolate cakes after health authorities in China confiscated nearly two tonnes of the cakes imported, saying they had found high levels of bacteria.
The Shanghai Daily said traces of coliform bacteria were found in two isolated batches of the chocolate cake produced for IKEA by Swedish supplier Almondy.A spokesperson from IKEA later confirmed that the cakes had been destroyed in quarantine, and sale of the items would be stopped in all markets.
Head of Quality at the supplier Almondy said there were no traces of any harmful bacteria when the cakes left Sweden.
"We don't quite know what it is...they have analysed a bigger group and we need more information about what they have analysed. What I can say is that when the cakes leftAlmondy, there were no increased amounts of E.coli or salmonella," Head of Quality,Margareta Johansson, said.
In a statement, IKEA said the bacteria found was not dangerous and that cakes from any of the two batches concerned were not being sold in Sweden.
IKEA and Almondy were told about the findings on Monday (March 4) and IKEA said they were now trying to find out why they had not been told about it earlier.
Last week IKEA stopped nearly all sales of meatballs at its furniture store cafeterias across Europe after tests in the Czech Republic showed some contained horsemeat.