The husband, surnamed Gao, said he and his wife dined at IKEA's restaurant on Saturday.

"My wife thought that the mushroom tasted strange, so she spitted it out, and found more than 10 worms inside. She then ran to the washroom to be sick," Gao said.

"Now she feels disgusted when she sees food," Gao said. So he reported the incident to the Chaoyang District health bureau, seeking an explanation and apology from IKEA, the globe's biggest furniture retailer.

Chen Yue, market manager of Beijng IKEA, said the health bureau has checked the restaurant and concluded that it doesn't have a sanitation problem. And that the worms were inside the mushroom when the suppliers sold it to the company, and couldn't be seen before they were cooked.

The company tried to compensate Gao with 500 yuan (US$63) but he refused. Gao said he wanted a reasonable explanation and an apology rather than compensation.

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