Ten thousand copies of a food magazine were recalled in Sweden after a mistake in one of its recipes left four people poisoned, the magazine said.

"There was a mistake in a recipe for apple cake. Instead of calling for two pinches of nutmeg it said 20 nutmeg nuts were needed," Matmagasinet's chief editor Ulla Cocke said.

"We know that four adults ate one cake made from this recipe, and they didn't feel well," she said. "This is obviously very regrettable."

The four people had experienced symptoms of poisoning, including dizziness and headaches, but were now feeling better, she said.

When Matmagasinet first discovered the mistake it immediately sent out letters to its 50,000 subscribers and placed a leaflet inside the copies sold in the store, cautioning that "high doses of nutmeg can cause poisoning symptoms".

"At first we thought this would be enough, because we didn't really think anyone would bake or eat this cake, since so much nutmeg would give it a horrible, bitter taste, and because it is simply not that easy to get hold of that much nutmeg," Ms Cocke said.

Once it became clear that people had been poisoned by the cake, the magazine immediately decided to recall all its store copies.

"We publish 1,200 recipes each year, and of course there have been times when they've had a bit too much butter or too little flour, but we have never experienced anything like this before," Ms Cocke said.

- AFP