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IKEA’s jerk chicken and “rice and peas” goes viral

Twitter users have criticised the Swedish company for serving jerk chicken with white rice and green peas and the dish has now been removed from their menu
Written by Leah Sinclair
13/09/2019 10:54 AM

CONTROVERSY: IKEA's Jerk chicken with rice and peas has now been removed from their menu.

IKEA UNVEILED a new dish at their restaurants earlier this week, serving jerk chicken with rice and peas - but not the rice and peas you’d expect.

The Swedish company known for their homeware, furniture and in-store restaurants - which offers a selection of Swedish meatballs to coffee and cakes - faced criticism after an image went viral displaying their take on jerk chicken with white rice, green peas and lime for the price of £6.95.

Taking to Twitter on Monday (Sept 9) one user tweeted an image of the dish, which he captioned: “This is IKEA’s jerk chicken and rice and peas and no I’m not eating it.”

An image of a billboard featuring the meal was then shared on Twitter by journalist Lorraine King. She wrote: “Jerk chicken with white rice and green peas? Can people stop bastardising traditional dishes please?”.

The tweets, which gained over 168 likes and 400 retweets, led many to share their thoughts on IKEA’s attempt on the traditional dish, revealing their disappointment.

One user wrote: “@IKEAUK PLEASE get a Caribbean chef next time. Or at least do a flipping google search. This is food violence.”

Another tweeted: “This is annoying. They love our food, music, culture but then try and deport our elders in #windrush.”

Speaking to The Voice, Lorena Lourido, Country Food Manager for IKEA UK and Ireland said as of today (Sept 13) the dish has been removed.

“IKEA is a Swedish home furnishing company with a much-loved food offer. We take inspiration from many countries around the world and have always worked to combine different flavours and ingredients to offer delicious, healthy and affordable dishes,” said Lourido.

“We’re aware that our new jerk chicken, served with rice and peas has created some conversation and in some cases offence. Our intention was to create a dish for many people to enjoy but we appreciate that we may have got it wrong. We apologise and we are now re-looking at the dish.”

See more reactions to IKEA’s jerk chicken and “rice and peas” below:

Posted on: 13/09/2019 10:54 AM

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