China destroys foods from Ikea, Kraft and Nestle
Chinese authorities have destroyed nearly two tonnes of chocolate cake imported into the country by furniture giant Ikea on the grounds that the cake violated food quality standards.
The Shanghai quarantine bureau said it also destroyed batches of Kraft cream cheese and 2.7 tonnes of Nestle chocolate bars in its latest round of quality inspections on imported products.
The agency said it destroyed 1,872 kilos of chocolate almond cake imported by Ikea that were said to contain unacceptable levels of coliform bacteria.
Coliform bacteria themselves do not normally cause serious illness, but indicate the presence of other harmful bacteria from the feces of warm-blooded animals.
Ikea said that the cakes were destroyed in November and December last year, but the company has only just become aware of the action by the Shanghai authorities.
Kraft Foods China said in a statement that it imported a batch of cheese products from the US to be used only as internal samples. The company said the products had not received a certification by the expiration date.
“We hereby sincerely apologise for all the concerns and doubts brought to consumers by this incident,” the statement said.
The Nestle chocolate contained too much sorbitol, a sweetener that in large amounts can cause bowel problems, the Shanghai quarantine agency said in a statement.
Nestle has not yet released a statement about the incident.
In other food safety news, Australian Food News recently reported that KFC China sales had dropped following claims that the company bought raw chicken with higher-than-permitted levels of antibiotics from poultry suppliers within the country.
