Ikea drops horsemeat-tainted meatballs

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STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- Ikea Monday said it has pulled horsemeat-tainted meatballs from shelves in the furniture-giant's Swedish stores.

The tainted meatballs were discovered by Czech inspectors, the Swedish news agency TT reported.

An Ikea spokeswoman told TT she was unsure whether stores in other countries would stop selling the meatballs.

Should the Czech tests be confirmed, this will be the first instance of traces of horsemeat being found in food in Sweden amid the European horsemeat scandal.

Meanwhile, in Italy Monday, horsemeat was also discovered in lasagna produced by Eurochef Italia Srl of Sommacampagna, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.

The meat for the lasagna was supplied by S.A.V. Srl of Sona.

The scandal came to light last month when tests in Ireland revealed some beef products also contained horsemeat.

Traces of horsemeat were found in meals sold by several British retailers.

European Union agriculture ministers met in Brussels Monday to discuss the scandal and how to regain consumer confidence.

Eskil Erlandsson, Sweden's minister of agriculture, said retailers should take some of the responsibility for their role in the scandal.

"We'll almost certainly discuss the need for parties in the chain to also carry out inspections so that it's not only the official inspections that are carried out," he told the TT news agency. "The production chain also has a responsibility, especially retailers, which are closest to the consumers."