TikTok Is Having A Field Day With The 'Risky' Snack Aisle At T.J Maxx

For all the places you read about here on Mashed, you've probably never expected to hear about T.J. Maxx. And no wonder, considering that the store is mostly known for home products, clothes, and accessories, as opposed to anything related to groceries. But surprisingly, T.J. Maxx actually has a moderate, if not somewhat "wild," snack selection. You can't do your grocery shopping there, mind you, but you can find some pretty interesting stuff if you look hard enough.

Bon Appetit describes T.J. Maxx's snack aisle as "chaos," reporting that you could purchase stuffed olives, beetroot powder, "bacon spice," and Sriracha ketchup. Why does T.J. Maxx have shelves dedicated to products such as gourmet popcorn and chocolates anyway?

The company explains that it wants to create a "treasure hunt shopping experience" where particularly hardcore shoppers can find unique items (in this case being snacks) if they manage to take their time and explore each area of the store. After all, it would make a trip to get some new pants or shoes a lot more interesting if you stumbled into an aisle that offered gourmet truffle oil, wouldn't it?

It seems that T.J. Maxx's idea of "hidden treasures" has indeed left its mark on most customers, who find themselves enthralled by the incredibly odd selection of foods in such a random place. Some, in fact, go so far as to call the snacks "risky."

TikTok user "dutchdeccc" uploaded a short 52-second clip of him describing how people like to take certain kinds of "risks." Dutch's personal favorite way to take risks, he explains, is to visit the snack aisles of T.J. Maxx, Marshall's, and Home Goods. The risk factor, Dutch says, is that most of the time the brands of snacks are completely unfamiliar to you and that you sometimes have no idea what you just bought.

One example he gives is that you could purchase "70% cacao dark chocolate organic keto coconut almond buttercups" — literal word salad, buzzwords slapped together onto a product that make it seem like it came from a hipster's night terror. Dutch insists that most of the snacks at T.J. Maxx are "made up," with many commenters having differing opinions on the snacks.

"I got these delightful rainbow sour gummy hearts from tj maxx last year," said one user. "And I think about them once a week they were so good."

"Omg please don't," cautioned another user. "I use to work at Marshall's specifically the home section..those snacks were never replaced. Never would I ever."

"The best gummy bears and seasoning blends I have gotten from Ross and TJ Maxx," reported user "Michelle Sperry."

This isn't the first time T.J. Maxx snacks have gone viral. According to Newsweek, a TikTok video in January 2022 raised the question of just how long those kinds of snacks sit out on shelves.