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CHICKEN

Säpo to investigate chicken glass mystery

Sweden's security police (Säpo) have been called in to assist the National Investigation Department (Rikskriminalen) in its investigation into a slew of recent incidents involving glass in chicken products.

Published: 1 April 2009 14:02 CEST
Säpo to investigate chicken glass mystery

Meanwhile chicken dishes are being taken off menus across Sweden.

Police in Södermanland in southern Sweden turned to the security police on Tuesday for assistance in solving the mystery surrounding the suspected sabotage of poultry producer Kronfågel’s plant in Valla.

Furthermore it was announced on Wednesday that the National Investigation Department (Rikskriminalen) would be taking over the investigation.

“The national police commissioner has today decided that the National Police Board coordinate the investigation into the glass found in chicken products,” said Varg Gyllander at the department on Wednesday afternoon.

As a result of the glass finds, more than 900 tonnes of chicken have been recalled across Sweden since the reports began to emerge on March 20th. Since then 17 cases have been reported with 13 of the cases traced to Kronfågel’s factory in Valla.

“In view of developments it could be advisable to work together in order to more easily detect a pattern.”

The Local reported on Tuesday of the latest incident in a restaurant in Piteå in the far north of Sweden when a lunch diner found a piece of glass in his chicken curry.

Following the latest discoveries food preparation firms across the country are taking no chances.

Medirest, the firm that supplies food to hospitals in Lund and Malmö, has removed chicken from its menus. Medirest typically sells 40,000 portions daily and has returned all its poultry to Kronfågel.

The same applies to Eurest, which operates 75 staff canteens across Sweden.

Several councils in the southern Sweden province of Skåne have elected to suspend the serving of chicken.

Furthermore no chicken will be served in Malmö’s schools and pre-schools until further notice.

“One has to be attentive to all the alarms that turn up and see what happens, as we have responsibility for so many meal portions,” Gunilla Berggren at Malmö Skolrestauranger told news agency TT.

Stockholm South Hospital has also followed suit and has removed chicken from patient and staff meals.

Despite the unceasing alarms Kronfågel is continuing to produce its chicken as normal and has no intention of recalling any more products.

“After a long discussion we have concluded that it does not help to recall the Kronfågel products. It will not put a stop to this,” Jenny Fridh at Kronfågel explained.

The firm has however tightened security at its production facilities.

Jenny Fridh was unwilling to confirm the locations of the new alarms.

“What I can say is that the new returns to be analyzed lack a red thread, a connection. We can now see that we are dealing with a range of products, from different producers and from difference countries – Denmark, Germany and Sweden.”

FOOD AND DRINK

OPINION: Are tips in Sweden becoming the norm?

Should you tip in Sweden? Habits are changing fast thanks to new technology and a hard-pressed restaurant trade, writes James Savage.

Published: 5 April 2024 13:59 CEST
OPINION: Are tips in Sweden becoming the norm?

The Local’s guide to tipping in Sweden is clear: tip for good service if you want to, but don’t feel the pressure: where servers in the US, for instance, rely on tips to live, waiters in Sweden have collectively bargained salaries with long vacations and generous benefits. 

But there are signs that this is changing, and the change is being accelerated by card machines. Now, many machines offer three preset gratuity percentages, usually starting with five percent and going up to fifteen or twenty. Previously they just asked the customer to fill in the total amount they wanted to pay.

This subtle change to a user interface sends a not-so-subtle message to customers: that tipping is expected and that most people are probably doing it. The button for not tipping is either a large-lettered ‘No Tip’ or a more subtle ‘Fortsätt’ or ‘Continue’ (it turns out you can continue without selecting a tip amount, but it’s not immediately clear to the user). 

I’ll confess, when I was first presented with this I was mildly irked: I usually tip if I’ve had table service, but waiting staff are treated as professionals and paid properly, guaranteed by deals with unions; menu prices are correspondingly high. The tip was a genuine token of appreciation.

But when I tweeted something to this effect (a tweet that went strangely viral), the responses I got made me think. Many people pointed out that the restaurant trade in Sweden is under enormous pressure, with rising costs, the after-effects of Covid and difficulties recruiting. And as Sweden has become more cosmopolitain, adding ten percent to the bill comes naturally to many.

Boulebar, a restaurant and bar chain with branches around Sweden and Denmark, had a longstanding policy of not accepting tips at all, reasoning that they were outdated and put diners in an uncomfortable position. But in 2021 CEO Henrik Kruse decided to change tack:

“It was a purely financial decision. We were under pressure due to Covid, and we had to keep wages down, so bringing back tips was the solution,” he said, adding that he has a collective agreement and staff also get a union bargained salary, before tips.

Yet for Kruse the new machines, with their pre-set tipping percentages, take things too far:

“We don’t use it, because it makes it even clearer that you’re asking for money. The guest should feel free not to tip. It’s more important for us that the guest feels free to tell people they’re satisfied.”

But for those restaurants that have adopted the new interfaces, the effect has been dramatic. Card processing company Kassacentralen, which was one of the first to launch this feature in Sweden, told Svenska Dagbladet this week that the feature had led to tips for the average establishment doubling, with some places seeing them rise six-fold.

Even unions are relaxed about tipping these days, perhaps understanding that they’re a significant extra income for their members. Union representatives have often in the past spoken out against tipping, arguing that the practice is demeaning to staff and that tips were spread unevenly, with staff in cafés or fast food joints getting nothing at all. But when I called the Swedish Hotel and Restaurant Union (HRF), a spokesman said that the union had no view on the practice, and it was a matter for staff, business owners and customers to decide.

So is tipping now expected in Sweden? The old advice probably still stands; waiters are still not as reliant on tips as staff in many other countries, so a lavish tip is not necessary. But as Swedes start to tip more generously, you might stick out if you leave nothing at all.

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