IKEA Hyderabad faces Twitterati rage and government fine; find out why!

IKEA, after its over-the-top hyped launch in India, faces flack as a worm was flaunted in its vegetable Biryani. A customer named Abeed Mohammad took to Twitter to complain about spotting a caterpillar in the vegetable biryani served to him, on Friday morning.

Also Read | Bodies of 14 newborns wrapped in plastic bags found in Kolkata's Haridebpur

He wrote, “#Ikeahyderbad Today I found caterpillar in my veg biryani. Very unfair of food @TV9Telugu @KTRTRS sir @hydcitypolice @THHyderabad @Abnandhrajyothi,” alerting the Hyderabad Police, Telangana Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development K T Rama Rao, and IKEA Hyderabad about the hoax.

#Ikeahyderbad Today I found caterpillar in my veg biryani. Very unfair of food @TV9Telugu @KTRTRS sir @hydcitypolice @THHyderabad @Abnandhrajyothi pic.twitter.com/jumiED25fs

— Abeed Mohammad (@abeedmohammed9) August 31, 2018

Three weeks ago, a storming crowd of over 40,000 people was witnessed during the launch of IKEA Hyderabad. The never-ending queue stood for hours for the newly-opened Swedish furniture giant. Now as the complaint post regarding the quality of food being served at IKEA went viral, furious reactions from Twitterati overwhelmed the internet.

Also Read | IKEA launches first store in India, vows 'long-term commitment' to India

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) issued a notice to the furniture giant and also imposed a fine of Rs 11,500 as it repudiated the law related to waste segregation and use of plastic covers. After the incident, Food safety officials made a visit to the store and collected food samples on Saturday.

Netizens could not hold back their anger and ridiculed the store on the internet.

Please conduct surprise inspection at most of the known food joints. Also please check on the MRP of the water bottle in the invoice. Looks like a good case of differential pricing of similar product.

— Kumar Ankit (@ankit_gnlu) September 2, 2018

Disgusting!!!! IKEA well done.. Superb maintenance!!!!

— Kiran (@Kiran79139132) August 31, 2018

WTF.. don't they have good processing manager? Didn't expect this from global giant

— Prabu (@asmiprabu) September 1, 2018

Its very unfortunate . Most of the MNC food chains don't care about health safety . Its usual nowadays getting dis kind of news . @IKEAIndia

— SMARTSHAN (@smartshan_87) September 2, 2018

Its very unfortunate . Most of the MNC food chains don't care about health safety . Its usual nowadays getting dis kind of news . @IKEAIndia

— SMARTSHAN (@smartshan_87) September 2, 2018

Good job Abeed ! But I'm wondering what will the team inspect the caterpillar for :D

— Vid (@Vid89061599) September 2, 2018

IKEA apologised to the customer and responded with a tweet that said, “We apologize for the unfortunate experience. We are investigating the matter and will take immediate corrective action. At IKEA, we have the strictest guidelines when it comes to food quality as customer health and safety are something we care about deeply.”

We apologize for the unfortunate experience. We are investigating the matter and will take immediate corrective action. At IKEA, we have the strictest guidelines when it comes to food quality as customer health and safety are something we care about deeply.

— IKEAIndia (@IKEAIndia) September 1, 2018

Also Read | Ashiwini Kumar Choubey calls Rahul Gandhi 'naali ka keeda'; triggers political agitation

However, a food safety official said that “IKEA representatives said they did not prepare the food in their kitchen and were procuring semi-cooked and frozen food from a Nagpur-based snack manufacturer.”

IKEA claims to be India’s 'largest restaurant', proclaims to be serving salivating Swedish to Indian cuisines, from salmon to biryani. Stakes are high and with a negative hoopla like this, IKEA might have to face griever consequences!