Be grateful that you don't live in Europe and that you haven't visited an Ikea store there lately. According to recent reports, the retailer is in big trouble after European authorities discovered horse meat in frozen meatballs labeled with "beef" and "pork. The meatballs have made it to several European countries, including Slovakia, Hungary, France, Britain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, The Czech Republic, and Ireland.
Apparently, The Czech State Veterinary Administration discovered the contamination in the meatballs in a random meat test. A horse meat scandal has spread across Europe, with similar discoveries in Nestle products in beef cannelloni in Spain. However, the scandal first began in Ireland when Irish authorities announced that they would be randomly DNA testing beef products. Overall, Irish authorities tested more than a third of brands on store shelves and found that at least five supermarket brands contained traces of horse meat.
Some EU states are pushing for tougher health regulations on meat products. However, this has caused a rift between Great Britain and other EU states, as the British tend to view tougher health standards as a hindrance to free trade. As for Ikea, the company says that it won't be serving meatballs at any of its stores out of customer concern. However, Ikea says that it sees no reason to extend this same action globally, and that it is doing its own testing of the meatballs.

recently named in the 2009 edition of Best Lawyer's In America, David Mittleman has been representing seriously injured people since 1985. A partner with Church Wyble PC—a division of Grewal Law PLLC—Mr. Mittleman and his partners focus on medical malpractice, wrongful death, car accidents, slip and falls, nursing home injury, pharmacy/pharmacist negligence and disability claims.
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