When I was a kid Hostess Cupcakes used to be advertised as the cupcake with a “surprise inside.” IKEA is getting the reputation of offering foods that have surprises, too, but not yummy whipped cream. First, a few weeks ago, there was an uproar over horsemeat in its meatballs sold in Europe so the company assured Americans there was no filet of filly in the meatballs here.
But now in China the question may be raised: is your chocolate cake tasting strangely lately? Does it taste crappy? The reason: Chinese officials pulled some cakes from Sweden that tested high with a bateria that often comes from fecal matter. Although these cakes comprise a truly organic pooh-pooh platter, IKEA recalled the cakes in Europe as well:
Ikea has recalled thousands of cakes from its stores in 23 countries after Chinese authorities identified high levels of bacteria normally found in human and animal waste.
The furniture giant admitted on Tuesday that coliform bacteria had been found in two batches of almond cake from a supplier in Sweden.
It comes after Chinese customs officials announced that they had destroyed a batch of 1,800 cakes after finding it contained high levels of coliforms which failed to meet hygiene standards.Coliforms, common bacteria which are found in faeces as well as soil and water, do not normally cause serious illness but are a sign of contamination which can indicate the presence of more harmful bacteria such as E.coli.
It comes after Ikea recalled meatballs and sausages from 24 countries due to fears they could have been contaminated with horse meat.
Ikea said batches of the cakes sold in all countries had been tested, but no evidence of contamination was found in those sold in the UK and Ireland.The affected batches of almond cake with chocolate and butterscotch all came from the same Swedish supplier which exports to stores across the world, the retailer said.
Company bigwigs insist there was no health risk. Consumers long felt IKEA’s meatballs and cake were of number one quality but they may now balk at buying with food products that may have a number two surprise inside.
graphic via shutterstock.com
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.