Ikea Malaysia meatballs safe for consumption

According to Ikea Malaysia in an official statement late Tuesday evening, the company said that its meatballs are free ffrom horsemeat and are 100 per cent beef.

"Meatballs sold in IKEA Malaysia contain only beef from Australia.

"The meatballs are halal certified and produced locally in Malaysia," said Ikea Malaysia store manager Roszalena Mashurdin.

Their statement came following reports that Ikea has withdrawn its meatballs from at least 16 European countries after Czech authorities found horsemeat in the product.

"None of our ingredients are produced by the affected suppliers.

"We do not tolerate any other ingredients than the ones stipulated in our recipes or specifications, secured through set standards, certifications and product analysis by accredited laboratories," she added.

Roszalena said as a precautionary measure, Ikea has issued a temporary sales stop of meatballs at the Ikea Swedish Food Market and Ikea Restaurant pending results from DNA testing.

"We expect the test results in the middle of next week to confirm that there are no indications of horsemeat in the meatballs."

It was reported that one kilogramme (2.2-pound) bags from the suspect batch of frozen meatballs had been pulled from the shelves in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Britain, Portugal, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Cyprus, Greece and Ireland.

Ikea is the latest group to become caught up in a Europe-wide scandal over the presence of horsemeat in ready-made dishes that erupted in January when horse DNA was detected in beefburgers in Britain and Ireland.

Swiss food giant Nestle, also had stopped using a Spanish supplier after tests determined there was horse DNA in products supposedly containing pure beef.