IKEA recalls popular food products over potential allergy risk
Alarm raised by the UK Foods Standards Agency about 5 different IKEA chocolate bars and a chocolate spread
Another week another product recall for IKEA it seems. And this time, it's chocolate.
The UK Foods Standards Agency (FSA) has raised multiple concerns over some of the chocolate bars and spreads sold in IKEA – because unclear labelling may mean they post a risk to those with nut allergies.
The FSA, a government body that tests and enforces food safety and food hygiene across the UK, says on its website that these products "may contain hazelnut and/or almond, which are not mentioned correctly in the ingredients lists, making them a possible health risk for anyone with an allergy to hazelnut and/or almond".
According to both the Food Standards Agency and IKEA, the following products are affected:
- Choklad Lingon & Blabar (chocolate with lingon/blueberry flavour)
- Choklad Ljus Utz (milk chocolate bar)
- Godis Not Utz (milk chocolate bar with hazelnut)
- Godis Chokladkrokant (milk chocolate with butterscotch)
- Godis Chokladran (chocolate filled wafers)
- Chokladkrokant Bredbar (chocolate butterscotch spread)
In a statement given to us at MadeForMums, IKEA says: "Product safety and quality are of highest priority to IKEA and the global recall concern all best before dates of all affected products.
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"The presence of hazelnut and almond has been frequently and not only occasionally detected, which underlines that these chocolate products are not suitable for consumption by persons allergic or sensitive to those allergens.
"The product information does not state this frequent presence clearly enough as the product labels only state 'may contain'. The product information on the product label could possibly be misleading, and is, therefore, not interpreted as compliant with legislation in several markets. Based on the high IKEA safety and quality standards, we have decided to recall the affected products globally, irrespective of various legislations in our markets.
"The products are safe for anyone who is not allergic or sensitive to almond and/or hazelnut."
IKEA is offering all customers a full refund at their local store (receipts won't be needed). But if you're in any doubt, you can always call the IKEA helpline for more information: 0203 645 0010.
Other recent IKEA recalls…
IKEA recalls baby safety gates after children fall down stairs
Ikea recalls Antilop highchairs in belt safety alert
IKEA stops selling MALM chest of drawers in US after third toddler dies in tragic accident
Authors
Having been a journalist for 15 years – and Reviews Editor at MadeForMums for five of those – Hazelann has accrued a lot of experience testing and reviewing every baby product imaginable.
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