Horse Meat Found in Ikea Meatballs

For those of you who love to have IKEA dates like Summer and Tom in “500 Days of Summer,” you may want to find a new spot to share a meal with an imaginary family.
As of last week, IKEA has been drawn into Europe’s growing food-safety scandal.

Czech authorities reportedly found horse meat in the furniture superstore’s Swedish meatballs last week.

On Monday, IKEA announced it had recalled a batch of frozen meatballs sent to Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, France, the U.K., Portugal, Italy, the Netherlands, Ireland, Cyprus, Greece, Spain and Belgium after tests detected traces of the horse meat.

Food inspectors discovered the horse meat DNA in 2.2-pound packs of the frozen meatballs last week labeled as beef and pork and sold under the name Kottbullar.

As a precaution, IKEA has issued a temporary stop sale of meatballs in Sweden and parts of Europe, according to the statement released on their website.

In the statement, IKEA Food Manager Sweden Ann Holster expresses her concern on the issue. “We are looking seriously at the test results from the Czech Republic,” Holster said. “Clients’ trust is of utmost importance and that is why we are taking this precaution and sold highs meatballs immediately.”

We will not tolerate any ingredients, the statement reads, other than those included in our recipe or specifications that are secured by establishing standards, certifications and product analysis by accredited laboratories.

According to the Wall Street Journal, IKEA relies on food sales for five percent of its €27 billion ($35.6 billion) in revenue.

The IKEA Group has 300 stores in 26 countries annually has 690 million visitors and the site has one billion visitors each year.

Though the horse meatballs never reached the United States, you may want to reconsider before you take a bite of your meatball on your next shopping trip.