Ikea issued a statement regarding the revelation that Chinese officials destroyed 4,100 pounds of imported almond cakes found to have high levels of coliform bacteria. The statement says: "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 for sale in the 23 affected countries. The UK and Ireland are not affected."