BANGKOK: Horsemeat has been revealed to exist in Ikea stores in Thailand, the international retailer said on Thursday. The Swedish furniture store, which also runs a Swedish food market and restaurant at its Bang Na outlet said the horsemeat turned up in independent tests conducted at its request on meatballs supplied to its Bangkok outlet. It said yesterday it will continue withholding the sale of meatballs. The store has withdrawn Swedish meatballs from its market and menu since February after a batch was found to have contained equine DNA. A store spokeswoman said the concern centered mainly on one supplier in Sweden. The company had asked the Bureau of Quality and Safety of Food at the Ministry of Public Health to test meatballs it had received from Sweden. “The halt on sales of meatballs will be in place for some months,” store manager Lacia Sherlock said. It isn't the first country store to report such findings. Ikea's headquarters in the United Arab Emirates said in March that it discovered horsemeat, but added that its meatballs sold in the country were in line with Islamic food regulations, following a recent recall of Ikea meatballs from 14 European countries after horse meat traces were found. The Swedish furniture giant said it would still send a batch of its meat products for tests, as an extra precautionary measure, Gulf News reported, citing an Ikea official and a statement released by the company. BN
