Furniture giant withdraws a batch of cakes from 23 countries over concerns it may contain sewage bacteria
Just when everyone was ready to heave a sigh of relief after the horsemeat scandal that has rocked the global food industry, another seems to have surfaced, with ripple effects felt in the UAE as well.
Swedish furniture giant Ikea has withdrawn a batch of its chocolate almond and butterscotch cakes across 23 countries after it was found to contain sewage bacteria.
The UAE is one of the 23 countries mentioned in the recall.
The traces of coliform bacteria under investigation in the suspected batch can be found in soil, vegetation, water, as well as in the faeces of humans and warm-blooded animals.
At time of writing, Emirates 24|7 was still awaiting a response from Ikea UAE.
The Shanghai quarantine bureau in China has reported it has already destroyed 1,872kg of chocolate almond cake imported by Ikea that it said had excessive levels of coliform bacteria.
The cake had failed tests "for containing an excessive level of coliform bacteria, according to the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine," the Shanghai Daily website wrote.
In a statement to AFP, Ikea spokeswoman Ylva Magnusson was quoted as saying: "There are indications that the levels of bacteria found are low but we obviously have to know the exact amount, and find out how this happened.
"But there is no health risk associated with consuming this product."
She added that the Swedish supplier has tested the same batch of almond cakes and found no presence of E. coli or human intestinal bacteria.
Aside from the UAE, other countries listed in the recall include Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland and Taiwan.
© Emirates 24|7 2013
