ICA meat repackaging controversy

Prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into four stores in the ICA supermarket chain, after a television documentary aired on December 5, 2007, revealed that they had repackaged out-of-date ground meat and put it back on the shelves in four of the largest hypermarkets in Sweden.

ICA apologised, suspended all of its Christmas commercials and summoned all 1,400 store managers to an emergency meeting in Stockholm.

[5] The current legislation and a major part of the Swedish National Food Administration Regulations are based on European Union law.

In a video sequence viewers could watch an ICA employee picking up out-of-date pork chops from the floor, repacking and relabeling them.

[8] Hans Hallén, a former quality control manager for ICA, revealed that the company knew that meat was being illegally repackaged as early as 2003.

Hallén, who monitored ICA stores in southern Sweden from 2003–2005, said he had informed the company's managers of the exact practices that were exposed in the documentary program.

[9] Hans Hallén, who was one of eight quality control managers employed by ICA until 2005, when the position was discontinued, said that "(his) main job was to train staff in order to ensure that scandals of this kind would not occur".

[20] ICA chief press officer Staffan Ekengren said the company had provided all the information that it possessed about the stores to the National Food Administration.

Ekengren said that ICA quality control managers are to visit the relevant stores at the weekend to hold meetings with those in charge.