No problem with cakes here, says Ikea

Ikea Hong Kong yesterday moved to assure customers that the affected batch of almond cake pulled from its restaurants worldwide is not being sold at its stores in the city.

On Tuesday, the Swedish furniture giant withdrew batches of almond cake from restaurants in 23 countries after Chinese authorities said they contained coliform bacteria, normally present in faecal matter.

Mainland authorities also disclosed that they had destroyed nearly two tonnes of chocolate cake imported by Ikea for violating food quality standards.

But Ikea Hong Kong made clear that customers in the city were not affected and that none of its almond or chocolate cake had to be recalled from its stores here.

"The affected batch of almond cake in question was not sold at any of our stores in Hong Kong at all," an Ikea spokesman said yesterday.

The spokesman also clarified that the production batches being sold in the city's stores have, as per safety and quality routines, been tested for bacteria that can cause health issues, such as , and that "none of these pathogen bacteria have been found". "There is no risk associated in consuming this product," the spokesman said.