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Vegetable biryani, samosa off IKEA menu after worm in food controversy
IKEA spokesperson said the company always took food safety and quality very seriously and customer health was always a priority and it had initiated an internal review in order to take any corrective actions as needed.
Swedish furniture major IKEA on Wednesday took two most popular dishes – vegetable biryani and samosa - off themenu at its food outlet in its Hyderabad store, its first in India and opened for public on August 9.
The decision was taken following an incident of a man complaining of finding a caterpillar in the vegetable biryani served to him at the food outlet on August 31.
The incident went viral on the social media within hours, leading the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) to issue a notice to the IKEA store management, besides imposing a fine of ₹11,500 on it for allegedly flouting norms related to dry and wet waste segregation and use of plastic covers.
In a statement, an IKEA spokesperson said the company always took food safety and quality very seriously and customer health was always a priority and it had initiated an internal review in order to take any corrective actions as needed.
“Following an incident on 31st August 2018, when a customer encountered a foreign object in the dish he ordered, IKEA India has voluntarily stopped sales of two of its most appreciated products - vegetarian biryani and samosa, sourced locally in India,” the spokesperson said, adding that IKEA followed strong internal processes to secure quality and takes full responsibility for its supply chain.
“IKEA India will resume sales of the two products after it has secured the review process,” the spokesperson said, while pointing out that during the first month of operation, IKEA India had received a very positive response from the customers for the food at the IKEA store in Hyderabad.
