Monday, February 25, 2013

Add IKEA To The Horse Meat Disguised As Meat Crowd

Earlier today, the Swedish government advised that IKEA had been selling its Swedish meatballs in 13 different countries and labeled them as containing beef and pork. Apparently there was also horse meat in the meatballs too. There is so much widespread horse meat fixing going on but there has not been one peep anywhere in North America about any horse meat. Do you think there is horse meat in beef products here? You would think so just because of the fact that it seems to be in every beef and pork product in Europe. I wonder if individuals are out there testing products. If any is found, the offending company will have a tough time getting back its reputation.

55 comments:

Sherry R. said...

I never liked those meatballs.

Christopher Cruz said...

Gross!!!

SusanB said...

Never been to Ikea - thought they only sold furniture.

LottaColada said...

Hold up, they sell food too?

Boriqua said...

@SusanB and @LottaColada -- Every IKEA I've been to has a full-service cafeteria. I've never been happier to say I ate the chicken. :)

Maja With a J said...

Who the hell buys premade meatballs anyway??? You deserve what you get!!! *L*

In Sweden, horse meat is actually a pretty common sandwich meat, but it is labelled as such.

Amber said...

They have a cafeteria, and you can purchase stuff to make some of the items i.e. the Swedish meatballs. They also have various snacky things, but not a full on grocery store.

Buy local so you know what you're getting, kids.

Count Jerkula said...

They give you free food w/ $100 purchase, I think.

Maja With a J said...

As a Swede living abroad, the food shop at IKEA has saved many a Christmas for me.

Still. You couldn't pay me to eat premade meatballs.

prolixe said...

All the IKEAs I've been to have a little cafeteria style restaurant that sells Swedish food, and the one here has a little grocery store type place in front of the store, where they also sell hot dogs, soda, ice cream, etc.

KPeony said...

I wouldn't care as long as it still tastes good. They should label it correctly at least. I don't see what the big deal is about horse meat. We eat so much bad crap everyday. I'd rather eat Mr. Ed than some processed plastic "food."

Laura said...

I'm glad I have only had salads there! The meatballs are very popular at IKEA.

Agent**It said...

Amber,I second that motion!

Dozer Big Dog Pig Dog said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
FSP said...

I'm sure there's horse meat out there, as well as cat and dog.

Oh, and IKEA is a great place to meet ladies!

Livia said...

"Horse meat disguised as meat"

Ok. I'm all for accurate labeling in the food industry. People have a right to know what they eating.

But, horse meat IS meat. Just because we have cultural norms dictating some ungulates as a a food source and others not, it doesn't make it any less edible.

Barton Fink said...

Um, lasagna from Sweden was one of the biggest horse-meat mislabeling stories last week. Poor Romania. They label the meat properly, and evil Swedes destroy their reputation!

Munch said...

@LottaColada - my local Ikea (in Scotland) has a self-serve cafe, a takeaway counter, a Swedish deli and a selection of weird biscuits and sweets at the tills. We like to play WTF-kind-of-food-is-this roulette at the checkout - I know, I need to get out more, and not to Ikea...

Mella said...

I don't get this scandal. It's meat , it's perfectly ok to eat . It's not going to kill you.

Anonymous said...

*thinks about frozen premade meatballs in freezer at home*

NOT from IKEA and just $2.00, but should I get rid of them?

*ponders*

Nah. I eat hot dogs, and Heaven only knows what are in THOSE things. My meatballs are safe! Neigh, neigh!

MISCH said...

I don't know about you but I have become a label reader, I always was to a point but now any meat fish or fowl that comes into this house gets double checked...
Ground beef...Whole Food no pink slime..
I used to buy more at Costco but as per their labels the meat could come from any one of 5 different countries...
Use to love T'J's tri-tip, it used to come from Colorado now it comes from New Zealand...I don't know what they do the the meat in the shipping and packing process but it's awful.
So just the simple pleasure of eating is being hijacked by greed.....

Unknown said...

some of the rarest and very expensive salamis are made of horse meat.

the thing here is that this meat is probably the "old horse" meat. but in that quantities - does not matter.

just a matter of time until some will discover a new allergy...

LottaColada said...

Wow. I had no idea. The closest IKea to me is about two hours away so I've never been in one.

Della said...

If it doesn't make you sick guess it is ok. It should be labeled correctly. A local Chinese was busted for serving cat. It was my favorite buffet and I ate there at least once a week. Thought of it makes me sick. There is no telling what we eat when we go to restaurants--especially if it is local. Who knows how much of the meat we buy at the grocery store is tested. With the economy so bad and prices at the grocery store and gas going up it probably happens more often.

mell61 said...

I don't object to eating horse, and have in the past, but I object to horse meat getting into the food chain which was not bred for human consumption, and may have been administered a variety of drugs that are not suitable for humans.
Or to quote off twitter..."Ikea have found horse meat in their Swedish meatballs. One would've been more shocked if they found wood in their furniture."

Amber said...

I try to buy local, organic, hormone/antibiotic/cruelty-free foods as much as possible. It is more expensive, but I like to know what I'm putting into my body, and I like supporting local farmers and businesses.

Pink Picklegoo said...

Count me as another who didn't know Ikea had food. mislabeling has gotten out of hand I hope they do extensiveness testing here!

dia papaya said...

I love those Meatballs! Waaahhhh!

dia papaya said...

I've been an IKEA shopper for almost 20 yrs and I love that store. I like the design elements and when you have a tiny city apartment no one else comes close.

I would always have me some meatballs after a long day of shopping.

crila16 said...

NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! I've had the Swedish meatballs from there before. I hope the US isn't one of the countries.

SingBlue said...

A govt scientist in the UK (not that we should believe them) addressed the contaminated horse meat issue about bute by stating that an adult would need to eat about 600 horse burgers a day to ingest enough phenylbutazone to be at risk.

Of course immediately post-war, horse meat was sold everywhere in UK. But I agree that there is an inherent trust issue with labeling that needs to be addressed.

Still, we in the UK are also panicking at the thought of all these Romanians invading us next year when their membership of the EU allows it. Although given we're eating all their transport, I don't see the problem.

Karen said...

@FSP, now I'm just imagining you trolling the IKEA floors trying to pick up women. "Need help putting that bed together?"

Tyler said...

@crila16, no, just Europe.

Authorities in the Czech Republic said they detected horse meat in Ikea meatballs. However,
IKEA's own tests did not detect horse DNA. Ikea announced that it was stopping sales “of the concerned batch” of meatballs.

Ikea statement: “We are now initiating further tests on the same production batch in which the Czech Republic authorities found indications of horse meat,” Ikea added in a statement. It said results are expected in the coming days.

Cathy said...

If you're looking for good pre-made meatballs, check out Trader Joe's. I love their turkey ones, but I'm sure their other ones are great too!

auntliddy said...

i just dont think I care for horse meat, but appropo of all these revelations, I have probably eaten it and I didnt even know! a person does have a right to know what t hey are eating. and tahe meatbaalls at Ikea? you get like 5, maybe as big as a dime! not very filling, lol

Sis said...

I know horse meat is eaten and prepared as a delicacy in some countries, but all of the labels should say what it has in them.

There are so many horses going to feed lots right now, and some do have heavy drugs in their systems.

I would never eat horse meat the thought of it grosses me out. The only meat I do eat once in a while is pork...and that's because we had a very mean pig growing up.... so one of my sons says, " so you're punishing that pig everytime you eat pork" and my pat answer is " yes..yes I am", lol. My family eats meat and I will prepare it for them.

Pookie said...

i kinda get the outrage...but i kinda don't. in my native country, horse isn't bred for consumption, but it is often rec'd for the ill (ie: anemics, et al), b/c of the high content of iron, omega 3s and b12. it's double that of the leanest beef.

...and ftr, i love ikea meatballs! but truly, i just need to sit down b/c i don't exactly have a discerning palate. i'm a non-foodie of highly mediocre cooking ability ilk, so yeah...i'll shut up now.

CantHaveMyPurse said...

Friends of mine worked at Sonic and would accidentally drop hamburgers on the floor and then proceed to cook and serve them. I know some would also stir mosquitoes into the chili if they flew too close to the open pan. I'm pretty sure we wouldn't want to know what's in the "safe" food we are eating. So while horse meat isn't my idea of appetizing, I suspect I've eaten worse and not known.

Unknown said...

anyone else reminded of the dog food scandal episode of Mad Men where the woman is upset because people are boycotting her dog food for having horse meat?

hothotheat said...

I don't get the outrage either. what is the difference between eating cow,chicken, dog or horse? I don't eat any of it because the thought of eating another being is gross.

FSP said...

You know it Karen!

Pogue Mahone said...

I'm so glad I'm a vegetarian!

Anotheramy said...

As long as there are no dead humans in the water, I am ok.

Rose said...

Gross! When I go to Ikea we usually eat at the cafeteria and I get the meatballs.

You don't have to buy them prepackaged or frozen. It's no different than ordering spaghetti with meatballs so I don't see how anyone deserves to have mislabeled food.

Horse meat may be edible but that doesn't mean everyone is open to eating it. Most people don't eat what animals they have for pets or interact with yet in other countries it's normal to eat dog meat.

It just comes down to selling something under the wrong label which is unethical and probably illegal depending on the country.

MissMarie said...

I remember buying horse meat dog food for my dog back in the '80s. It was my dog's favorite treat. Was always sad when people went"ewww horse meat" crazy and I could not get any for later dogs.

Bit dams said...

when the horse meat thing started a couple of weeks ago, i read an artcle that said it would be nearly impossible for the US meat industry not to be contaminated the same way. meat plants in the US commonly blend meat from MANY different sources. ts just a matter of time before this comes to light here.

Zeeky_Boogy_Doog said...

Yeah, IKEA has a little supermarket near the exit. It's great for buying lingonberries, (sadly, no longer any cloudberries) cookies, coffee, mustard and vinegar, tins of fish, frozen stuff. Like Maja said, it'll save you when you really need foods from Sweden and near to there.

Sherry said...

The USDA has zero power to test most the meat we eat here in the US. Besides being horribly short staffed the meat producers fight them every step of the way. If you get e coli from contaminated meat they don't even have to say where it came from. The producer(s) actually gets anonymity! And they can blend meat from any number of sources. That hamburger at the grocery store could be from the US, New Zealand, South America, you name it.
Our food safety system here in the US is quite broken. Makes me glad I don't eat it but I feel guilty for serving it to family. I do shop at a local store and try to buy from a respected producer (Diestal farms poultry, Niman Ranch for beef) but I could seriously be more diligent.

Jennifer said...

Well, at least if it's horse meat, you know it most likely wasn't fed antibiotics and growth hormones, since it is less likely it was raised for meat purposes. At this point in the game after reading however many stories about livestock raising practices, I'd rather have horse than chicken or cattle.

Mango said...

@ Zeeky - Yes, I always stock up on lingonberry jam for my b/f. I don't care for it, but I don't like jams and jellies anyway. He eats it with meats.

__-__=__ said...

Bacon looks pretty good now, doesn't it!?!?!?!

Jenn said...

The whole thing about the horse meat is that they give them some sort of painkiller made from tree frog drippings which isn't deemed safe for human consumption. I am a redneck who has eaten frog legs, rabbit, deer, crawfish, turtle, gator, and catfish. So, if I don't wanna eat horse, by Trigger, don't try sneaking it in my hamburger. It's wrong. I wouldn't do it to someone else, I don't want it done to me.

Unknown said...

um horse meat is meat you mean mislabelled meat and while I agree mislabelling meat is rephrensible that is not to say there is a problem with horse meat per se so long as you know what you are getting

beats road kill

some areas of the world prefer horse to cow,

people in the West get squeamish about eating animals that we domesticate as pets

in Ontario with the stupid government giving and then taking slots away from the racetracks there is now plenty of horsemeat on the market and cheap too

Erik said...

Not to get all political, but this is exactly why we need government regulation of the food industry (not to mention other industries). That said, I don't think horse is THAT bad, compared to some other things you could eat...

BitterBlondin said...

Horse meat is pretty usual in both McDonalds and BK hamburgers in Sweden. What's more disgusting is that sometimes horse poo "accidentally" mixes up with the meat. But I guess that applies everywhere, with all kinds of minced meat.

No really upset by ths, I find the reports on fixed pigs much more upsetting.

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