Yahoo Finance Ikea withdraws meatballs in 21 European countries
Ikea withdraws meatballs in 21 European countries after horse meat found in Czech tests.
Advertising for Ikea meat balls at the parking area at an Ikea store in Malmo Sweden Monday Feb. 25, 2012. Furniture retailer Ikea says it has halted all sales of meat balls in Sweden after Czech authorities detected horse meat in frozen meatballs that were labeled as beef and pork. (AP Photo/Johannes Cleris) SWEDEN OUT
STOCKHOLM (AP) -- Swedish furnishings giant Ikea says it is withdrawing meatballs from stores in 21 European countries amid concerns that they could contain horse meat.
Monday's move comes after authorities in the Czech Republic said they had detected horse DNA in tests of 1-kilogram (2.2-pound) packs of frozen meatballs labeled as beef and pork.
Ikea spokeswoman Ylva Magnusson told AP that stores in 21 countries using the same Swedish supplier would remove meatballs from their shelves.
She said that includes most European countries, but not Russia and Norway, which use local suppliers. She added that Ikea stores outside Europe are not affected.
