7 Apr 2013

Elk meat meals withdrawn from sale

5:57 am on 7 April 2013

Ikea has confirmed it has withdrawn 17,600 elk meat lasagne meals from sale in Europe after they were found to contain pork.

The Swedish furniture maker said sales were stopped in late March after pork was detected in them

in Belgium. Tests confirmed the contamination this week. They contained 1.4% pork.

The company said the pork poses no health risks but it did not tolerate any other ingredients other than the ones stipulated in its recipes or specifications.

The Local, a Swedish newspaper, quoted the meat suppliers as saying the contamination was due to its facilities not being cleaned properly between the handling of different animals.

The BBC reports the incident is the latest in a series of meat contamination scandals across Europe since January.

Earlier this year Ikea withdrew meatballs from sale in its restaurants and grocery departments.