IKEA defended itself against allegations of double standards in safety, as anger sparked online following the company's announcement that it would recall the SMILA series of lamps in China after receiving reports that children had received electric shocks from wires protruding from the lamps.
Media reports in China complained of double standards in the matter of safety, noting that SMILA series products were recalled beginning in 2013 in other countries, after a child died due to strangulation by the lamp cable. The Swedish furniture maker faced similar accusations about the recall of its Malm line of furniture last year. IKEA also recently triggered anger in China by erroneously listing Taiwan as a country on its website.
"I have decided not to buy IKEA products anymore," said one concerned consumer commenting on the news.
A representative of IKEA denied the allegations in response to an inquiry by the Global Times on Thursday. The IKEA representative clarified that the SMILA lamps recalled in 2013 were also recalled in China at the time, and they were redesigned to improve their safety. The current recall is due to a different safety issue, found after Chinese customers reported visible wires producing electric shocks to two children.
An official statement issued by the company on Wednesday stated IKEA "is truly sorry to hear about the incident but grateful that, to our knowledge, none of the children needed medical attention" adding that human error in the production process had been found in its SMILA STJÄRNA, SMILA MÅNE and SMILA BLOMMA lamp products.
The lamps were removed from stores immediately, said IKEA.
