After a caterpillar was found in the biryani served at the Indian store of IKEA in Hyderabad last week, the Swedish giant is stopping the sale of its vegetable biryani and samosas at the store. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the spokesperson of IKEA said they will resume the sales of the two products after they have secured the review process and taken any corrective actions as needed.
“IKEA takes food safety and quality very seriously and customer health is always a priority. 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 statement by IKEA said.
“IKEA follows strong internal processes to secure quality and takes full responsibility for its supply chain. IKEA India has initiated an internal review in order to take any corrective actions as needed,” they said.
The statement further added that IKEA India will resume sales of the two products after they have secured the review process.
After a complaint was registered with the Food safety officer with the GHMC, a penalty of Rs 11,500 was levied against the IKEA store through the GHMC Hotel App. The restaurant manager was also issued a notice and a notice was also sent to Haldirams, the vegetable biryani vendor at Nagpur, from where the restaurant procures its food. The leftover consignment of the biryani in question was quarantined by IKEA.
The IKEA restaurant can seat over 1,000 people and has been billed as their largest in the world. The café offers coffee, bakes, frozen yoghurts and many more. The restaurant also offers 50% Swedish specialties like salmon, and chicken and vegetarian meatballs, and 50% local delicacies like samosas, dal makhni and biriyani.