Ikea cake recalled due to faecal contamination

By Joseph James Whitworth

- Last updated on GMT

Ikea cake recalled due to possible human waste contamination
Ikea cake recalled due to possible human waste contamination

Related tags Coliform bacteria Bacteria

Ikea has stopped the sale of two affected batches of chocolate and butterscotch almond cake over fears it might be  contaminated with fecal matter.

The problem was announced yesterday. The discount retailer said it took the issue seriously and understood people's concerns, but emphasised there was no health risk.

Ikea said the product was produced for its in-store restaurants from one supplier in Sweden. It added that there was no health risk associated with consuming the product as it had been tested for pathogens such as harmful strains of E.coli and none had been found.

It was withdrawn in 23 countries after Chinese authorities found high levels of coliform bacteria normally found in human waste and destroyed the products late last year, but Ikea only found out this week.

'Levels not high'

An Ikea spokeswoman told this site: "The levels of the tested coliform bacteria were not high.

"The form of coliform bacteria that were detected in the batch of Almond cake is not creating a health risk, however the levels detected were above our set levels for this kind of coliform bacteria.

"For quality reasons we decided to stop sales of the two affected batches."

The move came slightly more than a week after Ikea recalled meatballs from more than 20 countries because of fears they could be contaminated with horse meat.

Reviewing production

The spokeswoman for the retailer added that it was working with the product supplier, reviewing how and when production could be resumed and the content of the meat products guaranteed.

"We continue the testing of the minced meat products. Until today only a small amount of meatballs have been discarded. The meatballs that have been withdrawn from sale are stored frozen until we can find a good sustainable solution to take care of these products.

"We are closely following the supplier’s actions to find the root cause of the problem and their corrective actions."

Related topics Business Food Safety & Quality

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2 comments

I don't want products containing coliforms

Posted by Thomas Clarke,

I would not want to consume any foods that have tested positive for coliforms. The fact that these items were positive and made it out of the manufacturers warehouse would be enough to make me very concerned about the practices at the sites that produced the cakes as well as the entire quality system of the supplier. These should have been tested before shipment and any positive results should have prevented these cakes from being shipped. They have a very big investigation before them and it will take some time and probably a review of how the bakery is operating.

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Misleading Title on This Article

Posted by Mike Pusey,

The isolation of coliforms from food does not indicate per se that the product has been contaminated with faeces or faecal matter. Coliforms are found in water, the environment and on plants as well as being associated with the gastrontestinal syestem of mammals. Their presence is an indication of inadequate hygiene and the relevance of the isolation depends on many factors such as the specific organisms found and the levels at which they occur. The assignable cause may be something as simple as undercooking or poor cleaning, sanitisation or drying of equipment.

The origin could be the chocolate or the almonds and from reports the levels are not high and, although they should not be present there is probably no significant risk to the consumer. IKEA have reacted in a responsible way and, although there have been failures in their systems leading to the issue, do not deserve to be the subject of sensational and misleading articles.

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