Italy was one of the 23 countries in which almond cake was withdrawn
Ikea has recalled thousands of cakes from its stores in 23 countries after Chinese authorities identified high levels of bacteria normally found in human and animal waste.
The furniture giant admitted on Tuesday that coliform bacteria had been found in two batches of almond cake from a supplier in Sweden.
It comes after Chinese customs officials announced that they had destroyed a batch of 1,800 cakes after finding it contained high levels of coliforms which failed to meet hygiene standards.
Coliforms, common bacteria which are found in faeces as well as soil and water, do not normally cause serious illness but are a sign of contamination which can indicate the presence of more harmful bacteria such as E.coli.
It comes after Ikea recalled meatballs and sausages from 24 countries due to fears they could have been contaminated with horse meat.
Ikea said batches of the cakes sold in all countries had been tested, but no evidence of contamination was found in those sold in the UK and Ireland.
The affected batches of almond cake with chocolate and butterscotch all came from the same Swedish supplier which exports to stores across the world, the retailer said.
A spokesman said: "There is no health risk associated with consuming this product. The production batches have, as per safety and quality routines, been tested for bacteria that can cause health issues, such as E.coli, and none of these pathogen bacteria have been found.
"However, since the product does not comply with our strict food quality standards we have decided to withdraw the concerned production batches from sale in the 23 affected countries. The UK and Ireland are not affected."
The 23 countries（areas） in which almond cake was withdrawn were: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates.
宜家从23个国家的连锁店召回了数千个蛋糕，因为中国当局在宜家蛋糕中发现了大量人畜粪便中所含的细菌。
这一家具巨头周二承认，在来自瑞典一家供货商的两批杏仁蛋糕中发现了大肠菌。
此前，中国海关官员宣布已经销毁了1800个宜家蛋糕，因为在这批蛋糕中发现了大量超标大肠菌。
大肠菌是一种存活在粪便、泥土和水中的常见细菌，一般不会导致重大疾病，但是大肠菌标志着可能存在一些更有害的细菌的污染，如大肠杆菌。
此前宜家刚刚从24个国家召回了肉丸和香肠，因为担心这些食品可能被马肉污染了。
宜家称，已经对出售到各个国家的不同批次的蛋糕进行检测，在英国和爱尔兰出售的蛋糕没有发现污染迹象。
该零售巨头称，受污染的几批巧克力奶油糖杏仁蛋糕都来自同一家瑞典供货商，该供货商的产品出口到世界各地的商店。
一位发言人说：“食用这一产品没有健康风险。这几批产品都按照安全和质量常规检测过可能导致健康问题的细菌，如大肠杆菌，但没有发现任何这类致病细菌。
“但是，因为这一产品不符合我们严格的食品质量标准，我们决定从受影响的23个国家召回受污染的批次产品。英国和爱尔兰没有受到影响。”
杏仁蛋糕召回的23个国家（地区）是：澳大利亚、奥地利、比利时、保加利亚、中国、捷克共和国、丹麦、芬兰、法国、德国、希腊、匈牙利、意大利、荷兰、挪威、波兰、罗马尼亚、俄罗斯、斯洛伐克、瑞典、瑞士、台湾和阿拉伯联合酋长国。
coliform bacteria: 大肠菌
E.coli: 大肠杆菌
butterscotch: （咸味）奶油糖果，黄油硬糖
as per: 按照，依据