HORSEMEAT BALLS

"Czech authorities find traces of horsemeat in meatballs made in Sweden; Ikea Danmark calls the event "isolated" but voluntarily stops sales in its Danish stores

Maybe that's why they're so cheap (Photo: Scanpix)

The horsemeat scandal has now reached IKEA.

After the Czech State Veterinary Administration revealed that horsemeat was found in packs of frozen meatballs made in Sweden and shipped to Czech stores, IKEA stores in Denmark have decided to stop selling the meatballs.

According to the Associated Press, an Ikea spokesperson said that the same meat stopped by the Czech authorities was sent to Ikea stores in 13 European countries: Britain, France, Portugal, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Belgium, Spain, Slovakia, Hungary, Cyprus, Ireland, Greece and Italy.

While calling the Czech results "isolated" and stressing that the meatballs sold in the five Danish warehouses did not come from the same source as the suspect meat, IKEA announced this afternoon that it would discontinue the sale of meatballs in Denmark.

"Here in Denmark we have decided to send the meatballs from the Danish warehouses out for an analysis," a statement from IKEA read. "We anticipate an answer in a few days and in the meantime we have chosen to stop selling meatballs in our Danish restaurants and bistros. We have done this so that the doubt, even though it is very little, is alleviated for our Danish customers."

Similarly, IKEA Sweden announced on its Facebook page that its own controls found no traces of horsemeat and that it would investigate further. Like in Denmark, Swedish Ikea stores will temporarily stop selling meatballs."