As if you needed a reason NOT to buy food from Ikea....

[FoodChic]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03...

[PhilipS]

I always have the meatballs when I go to Ikea - which is only about once or twice a year. And I will have them again.

I also eat MacDonalds (but really do have to remove the gherkin). A little bit of processed food does me no harm occasionally.

[drongo]

Ikea is good for its variety of marinated herring products.

[sunshine842]

and smoked salmon.

[BuildingMyBento]

So you're saying China is being a hypocrite? Oh nevermind.

Ironically (ish), Ikea in Shenzhen is where I'd go when I wanted a salad and a hazelnut chocolate bar. The former indeed was made en situ, but the latter was prepackaged and sold in the Swedish foodstuffs part of the store.

There were other places to get a salad in that city, but Ikea was by far the closest (and cheapest).

[acgold7]

Are you kidding? Them meatballs is deleecious....

[juliejulez]

The only baked good I've had from there is the cinnamon rolls and they aren't very good. But if I'm going there to shop for furniture, I'll have lunch in their cafe. It's super cheap and isn't half bad... probably on par with normal fast food. But it's nice to just eat there, plan out your route through the store, and then head out.

[GH1618]

This is likely a problem with mass-produced desserts generally, not merely Ikea. It's best for health to skip desserts anyway, but when I want one I want it freshly made.

[Chowrin]

Most anything with peanut butter is a real health hazard. (not so much the actual peanut butter you get from the stores, but stuff with peanutbutter in it... they use bottom of the barrel stuff, with poor standards).

[HillJ]

I've bought plenty of Swedish foodstuffs off the shelves at IKEA with no issues. Given the number of news reports on food supply problems lately, we might as well start growing and producing all of our own for personal consumption.

If the individual food culprit is taken out of the retail stores, do we boycott the entire company?

[kattyeyes]

Hmm, well, I always thought their chocolate oat cookies were "the sh*t" but I didn't mean it literally. ;)

[HillJ]

Never had their cookies. But their gingerbread taffy is really good.

[sunshine842]

oh, those stupid chocolate-oatmeal cookies. An open box is an empty box.

Please name an international food purveyor who *hasn't* had a major food recall in the last 15-18 months.

And the horsemeat wasn't harmful.

[kattyeyes]

"An open box is an empty box." So true! To this day, one of my friends reminds me of the time I tore into the box before we paid for it (she was mortified, HA HA). :)

[Bill Hunt]

I would say NO! Just do not dine on the "meatballs," at Ikea. Maybe the bunk beds would be just fine?

Hunt

[HillJ]

You are a funny rascal, I'll give you that. No one "dines" at IKEA. You hang out, waiting for your boxes to be loaded in your car. You grab a nosh, browse the food stuff aisles, maybe buy a jar of this and that. Low brow doesn't suit you okay fine, but at least spare us the silly, dismissive remarks if you never actually tried it. Good grief Bill, is it all wine and roses for you?

[LotusRapper]

He even said he's never been to an IKEA. So let's not waste our time arguing with the hex wrench un-enlightened ;-)

[Bigjim68]

I like the meatballs.

[MsMaryMc]

I would buy the meatballs before the bunk beds! My rule about Ikea furniture is, nothing that humans will sit or lie down on. Bookshelves, entertainment centers, end tables, coffee tables, footstools, CD racks, all fine and dandy; anything that regularly bears the full weight of a human body, (beds, sofas, chairs), you're just asking to eventually wind up on the floor amidst a pile of kindling.

They do make some very good chocolate bars and cookies, and I like some of their Scandinavian cheeses. I'm intrigued by the mysterious foods in a tube with indecipherable Swedish labels, but so far I haven't been brave enough to try them.

[Meann]

Actually, the toothpaste tube full of smoked salmon makes handy, and tasty, emergency canapes.

I always have a jar of the seaweed based faux caviar in the fridge. It doesn't taste like caviar, but it does taste good, pleasantly marine and slightly crunchy. And the coffee is good.

[c oliver]

Thanks for the food tips. Our nearest one is in Sacramento so we're not there on any kind of regular basis. But have built two of their kitchens and all sorts of furniture (not any that we sit on!), rugs, etc. Super pleased. A Swedish-heritage friend had us bring him FOUR jars of the lingonberries :)

[chowser]

This is a "let them eat cake" type attitude. For some people, IKEA is dining and they enjoy it. Some people don't have the same means as others. I enjoy fine dining as much as the next person but also have no problems eating from IKEA and realize many do it because it's a cheap meal.

I've managed to put together pieces from IKEA with just that little allen wrench. I haven't had problems w/ anything falling apart so maybe it's failure of the user, not the product. It does take patience, but as with an outfit, if you have some good quality pieces, cheap accessories can fill the rest, as long as you have a good eye.

[Bill Hunt]

Somehow, food and Ikea just do not fit into my thought train.

Hunt

[HillJ]

BH, is that thought train of yours based on actually trying the Swedish food product distributed through IKEA or just dismissing it altogether?

[Bill Hunt]

In my case, no. I have not even been to an Ikea, but would not really do so, in order to dine. Not what I would seek out.

Same for dining at Costco. Not what would warm MY heart.

Maybe I can explore dining at Schumacher Mercedes Benz? How about dining at The Room Store?

No, just not something that I think of.

Hunt

[Chowrin]

What, you got sumptin wrong witcha? What's wrong with good ol'fashioned cafeteria food, american style? ;-P

[sunshine842]

Neither Ikea or Costco are really "dining" - particularly by your definition of the word, Bill.

But they're not a bad place to grab a slice of pizza (Costco) or a pretty respectable salad (Ikea) and a cup of coffee when you've got a full day.

They're both better than the fast-food alternatives, and considerable better prices.

[ennuisans]

The nearby Sam's Club at one point had Buffalo wing chicken pizza with ranch dressing instead of tomato sauce. What can I say, it made me happy. But I am sad that I never got to try a Home Depot hot dog.

[4X4]

I buy coffee beans and Daim bars (possibly the best candy in the world) at Ikea.

[4X4]

I once bought a hot dog at Ikea. It took me twenty minutes to figure out how to get the hot dog into the bun, the mustard that was supposed to come with it was missing, and it fell apart before I got a chance to eat it!

[cwdonald]

Sounds similar to their furniture .. hard to assemble... poor directions and inevitably falls apart.

[c oliver]

We've built two Ikea kitchens and multiple pieces of furniture and love everysingle one. Sorry yoou've had a problem.

[MGZ]

"Somehow, food and Ikea just do not fit into my thought train"

Mine either. You don't sleep where you sh*t and you don't eat where you by poor quality furniture that even a guy like me finds difficult to assemble.

[sunshine842]

aw, c'mon -- I'm a chick and I don't have any trouble putting together Ikea furniture.

[mpjmph]

I *like* assembling Ikea furniture... Also like the meatballs, and recently discovered elderberry juice.