Answer by Andy for json_encode adding unwanted slashes

You are running JSON_encode on JSON - this is why the double escaping occurs. Try this:

$savedVal['id'] = 5 ;
$savedVal['object_str'] = json_decode( '{"field":"City","term":"Hawaiian Gardens, CA"}' );

echo json_encode( $savedVal );

Output

{"id":5,"object_str":{"field":"City","term":"Hawaiian Gardens, CA"}}