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HORSEMEAT SCANDAL

HORSE

Sweden confirms horse in Ikea-supplier meatballs

Ikea's Sweden-based meatball supplier confirmed on Wednesday that it had found horsemeat in meatballs destines for sale in outlets of the Swedish furniture retailing giant.

Published: 27 February 2013 10:39 CET
Updated: 27 February 2013 14:22 CET
Sweden confirms horse in Ikea-supplier meatballs

“We learned this morning that tests carried out by Dafgårds showed their meatballs contained horsemeat,” Karin Cerenius, head of inspections in Västra Götaland County with Sweden’s National Food Agency (Livsmedelsverket), told The Local.

The tests were carried out following reports earlier in the week that Czech food inspectors had found traces of horsemeat in Ikea-brand frozen Swedish meatballs.

“These tests confirm the results from tests carried out in the Czech Republic,” said Cerenius.

The new tests carried out in Sweden showed that meatballs from Swedish food producer Gunnar Dafgård AB, the main supplier of meatballs to Ikea stores throughout Europe, contained between 1 and 10 percent horsemeat.

Generally, any finding over one percent indicates that horsemeat was mixed into the ground meat used to produce the meatballs, rather than simply being a case of contamination that took place during production.

The news came as a blow to Dafgård management, which had claimed on Tuesday that previous tests showed their products to be free of horsemeat.

“We’re devastated. We think it’s incredibly difficult,” deputy CEO Magnus Dafgård told the TT news agency on Wednesday.

“We’re the victims of a criminal act. We’ve been misled and defrauded.”

Dafgård said the company plans to report the responsible supplier to the police, although it remains unclear from where the horsemeat-tainted meat originated.

He confirmed that Swedish meatballs destined for Ikea store shelves tested positive for horsemeat following the company’s own tests.

The tests were carried out on samples taken from the same batch tested by officials in the Czech Republic, as well as on other batches.

Cerenius said her agency has staff on site at Dafgård’s facilities and that the company would now be required to recall its products because they are inaccurately labeled.

“Then they will have to set about tracing the meat to figure out where it came from,” Cerenius added.

Following reports on Monday of the horsemeat discovery, Ikea halted meatball sales at stores in Sweden and 14 other European countries.

On Tuesday, the Swedish furniture retailer extended the ban to stores 24 countries, including outlets in Hong Kong, Thailand, and the Dominican Republic.

Also on Tuesday, Swedish food producers’ group Lantmännen announced it was recalling products containing Dafgård-produced meat on suspicion they may contain horsemeat.

A Lantmännen spokesperson called the recall a “precautionary measure” carried out while the company conducts its own tests.

The Local/dl

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WEATHER

Danish Ikea store shelters staff and customers overnight during snowstorm

Heavy snowfall left 31 people looking for a spare cushion at the Aalborg branch of Ikea on Wednesday as they were forced to spend the night at the store.

Published: 2 December 2021 09:11 CET
A file photo at Ikea in Aalborg, where 31 people stayed overnight during a snowstorm on December 1st 2021.
A file photo at Ikea in Aalborg, where 31 people stayed overnight during a snowstorm on December 1st 2021. Photo: Henning Bagger/Ritzau Scanpix

Anyone who has found themselves wandering the mazy aisles of an Ikea might be able to empathise with the sense of being lost in the furniture store for a seemingly indefinite time.

Such a feeling was probably more real than usual for six customers and 25 staff members who were forced to spend the night at the furniture giant’s Aalborg branch after being snowed in.

Heavy snow in North Jutland brought traffic to a standstill and halted public transport in parts of the region on Wednesday afternoon, resulting in a snow-in at Ikea.

“This is certainly a new situation for us,” Ikea Aalborg store manager Peter Elmose told local media Nordjyske, which first reported the story.

“It’s certainly not how I thought my day would end when I drove to work this morning,” Elmose added.

The 31 people gathered in the store’s restaurant area and planned to see Christmas television and football to pass the evening, the store’s manager reported to Nordjyske.

“Our kitchen staff have made sure there is hot chocolate, risalamande, pastries, soft drinks, coffee and the odd beer for us in light of the occasion. So we’ll be able to keep warm,” he said.

“We couldn’t just send them outside and lock the door behind them at our 8pm closing time. Absolutely not. So of course they’ll be staying here,” he added.

The temporary guests were given lodging in different departments of the store in view of the Covid-19 situation, Nordjyske writes.

“For us , the most important thing was to take care of each other and that everyone feels safe,” Elmose said.

At least Ikea’s stranded customers and staff had somewhere comfortable to lay their heads.

The same can unlikely be said for around 300 passengers at the city’s airport who had to stay overnight at the terminal.

The airport was forced to stop flights from 2:30pm yesterday amid worsening weather, which also prevented buses from transferring passengers to hotels.

“We have around 300 people in the terminal right now and have been giving out blankets on the assumption they will be staying here tonight,” Aalborg Airport operations manager Kim Bermann told Nordjyske.

READ ALSO: Ikea reopens in Denmark after country’s worst retail month this century

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