Despite the fact that ten of the cases involved ICA stores, ICA management denied in December that they had been aware that re-labelling had occurred in ICA stores.
When ICA management was confronted with the information by Swedish Television (SVT), they defended themselves by claiming that the practice of re-labelling and reselling meat that had past its expiration date was not systematic or widespread.
“Throughout the year we’ve seen that there have been cases when stores have made mistakes in their handling [of meat],” said ICA’s head of quality Mats Ovegård to SVT.
The first indictment against one of the four ICA store owners implicated in the scandal for breaking Sweden’s Food Act is expected in a month.