Horse Meat Found in Ikea’s Swedish Meatballs

Horse meat has been detected in frozen Ikea meatballs labeled as beef and pork that were sold in 13 countries, according to the New York Times.

The Czech State Veterinary Administration reported that horse meat was found in packs of the furniture giant’s frozen meatballs, and that 1,675 pounds of meatballs were stopped from reaching shelves in Slovakia, Hungary, France, Britain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Ireland.

Ikea spokeswoman Ylva Magnusson said other shipments of meatballs were not affected, and that Ikea saw no reason to stop selling the meatballs globally, including at its Plymouth Township store, which also houses the IKEA America Corporate Office Headquarters.

"All meatballs sold in our IKEA US stores are sourced from a US supplier," said an Ikea press release.  "When this issue first came to light in Europe, we mapped the sources of the meat in our meatballs. Based on the results of our mapping, we can confirm that the contents of the meatballs follow the IKEA recipe and contain only beef and pork from animals raised in the US and Canada."

This announcement comes as part of a larger crisis regarding horse meat being found in beef products in Europe, after Nestle removed pasta meals from store shelves in Italy and Spain for the same issue, and horse meat was found in a Denmark pizza, according to USA Today.

European Union officials are meeting today to discuss tougher food labeling rules, according to the Christian Science Monitor.