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As of 2010, the American diet seems to focus mainly on grains, fats, and oils, and ultra-processed foods make up about 58% of their daily energy intake.
And while diets around the globe are more similar than they used to be (in nearly 50 years, the differences in foods eaten has narrowed by 68 percent), foreigners are still having trouble with it.
So when Reddit user EskimoeExplosion invited non-Americans to name the quintessential US foods they will never understand, people from all over the world flooded them with all sorts of products.
(However, remember to take this list with a grain of salt, since, as we know, taste can be very, very subjective.)
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Tube cheese or aerosol cheese. The latter makes me gag thinking about it.
KindyKaiako 2 years ago
Tube or aerosol cheese?? Like a spray?? Oh my goodness 😂 you do you USA haha
RELATED:
#2
That awful, orange, plasticky American cheese. I lived in North America for a year and missed good British cheddar so much!
We managed to get in touch with EskimoeExplosion and even though they don't recall what exactly gave them the idea for the post, at the time the Redditor was working in the industry as a sous-chef at a country club and was pretty passionate about food. "It was a big part of my life back then," EskimoeExplosion told Bored Panda.
"The American diet stems from convenience, although we've developed cuisines similar to other cultures (mainly rooted in poverty like BBQ, Fried Chicken, etc.) there's always the Americanized asterisked version where it's just slightly more convenient," they said.
"The American diet is simple recipes we're not willing to make ourselves, BBQ sauce, ketchup, etc., are all easily constructed from scratch but very few Americans could tell you how to make ketchup or BBQ sauce from scratch."
#3
American bread. I lived in the states for six months. At one point shortly after moving, I bought a loaf of bread and made a sandwich. To my surprise, the bread was so sweet. I told my housemates that I accidentally bought dessert bread, but nope — just regular bread in America.
#4
Pop tarts taste like someone half-as*ed an attempt at flavoured cardboard. They're horrible.
Pirates of Zen Pants 2 years ago
It's supposed to taste like cardboard with jam, but instead it tastes like cardboard a strawberry sneezed on. I'd rather make strawberry pancakes.
#5
It's not so much the food but more the portion sizes. I'm Australian and was raised as a kid to eat everything on my plate. I brought that mentality to the US. over a month I put on 5kg!
The portion sizes are obscene. I could hardly finish a meal there without feeling ill from eating to much. I think implementing cheaper, smaller portion options would be great. It would also cut down on wasting food (as I noticed a lot of people didn't eat all of their meal).
That said, American food on the whole was great. I spent a lot of time in the Deep South and I loved BBQ, baked beans, grits, sweet tea, Cajun food, Po Boys. Even Waffle House wasn't half bad.
EDIT: A lot of people are mentioning getting a to go bag. In Australia people don't really do that much. It is more for kids who liked their meal but don't eat much. Anyway, I don't remember ever been encouraged to do it by the Americans I was staying with in the Deep South. My friend in California used to do it (particularly with Mexican food). My girlfriend's mother would often cook and always had food in the house, so getting a to go bag wasn't a necessity for them. I really have no idea how her whole family had such good figures (must be good genetics). I would turn into one of those morbidly obese people you see riding scooters in Walmart if I lived in Alabama for a year.
A few people also commented on Australia having large portion sizes. I would agree that this is the case if you go out for a pub meal. Some of those meals are huge. Also out in the country (where people tend to be fatter) the food is often deep fried and in large quantities. Still compared to what was on offer in Alabama, it is nothing.
EDIT 2: Many people freaking out about what a kg (kilogram is). One kg = 2.2 pounds. So I put on 11 pounds in a month. I'm surprised the US just doesn't adopt the metric system as the rest of the world uses it and it is a really simple way to measure weight, length etc.
Karen Weiss 2 years ago
A similar experience for me. My partner and I ended up sharing meals which seemed to be ok over there. Also cheese, everything covered in cheese. And chips (crisps) with sandwiches? Really?
According to Trust For America's Health, the U.S. adult obesity rate stands at 42.4 percent, the first time the national rate has passed the 40 percent mark, and further evidence of the country's health crisis. (In fact, this number has increased by 26 percent since 2008.)
Rates of childhood obesity are also increasing with the latest data showing that 19.3 percent of U.S. young people (ages 2 to 19) suffer from it. (For comparison, in the mid-1970s, only 5.5 percent of young people were obese.)
"That's a very complicated issue that can't really be rooted in one specific thing, it has a lot to do with the fast-paced culture of convenience we have but also just a fundamentally different way we see food," EskimoExplosion shared their thoughts.
#7
HERSHEYS i seriously thought it was spoiled when i tried one.
Hand on heart i wouldnt eat it even if it was free, how they make a profit i will never know.
Lindsay Ameye 2 years ago
As Belgians we are spoiled with our chocolate. When we went to NYC, we spent like 1 minute in the Hershey store before fleeing it, due to the horrible, horrible smell of the "chocolate".
#8
Twinkies. They're somehow delicious and disgusting, all at the same time. I am afraid of your gastromolecular science.
Bernd Herbert 2 years ago
I've had one once, during one of my US vacations. Not impressed, way too sweet, won't buy again. (Sounds like something Gordon Ramsay would say)
Indeed, demographic trends and the conditions in people's lives have a large impact on their ability to follow a nutritious diet and maintain a healthy weight. Generally, the data show that the more a person earns, the less likely they are to have obesity. Also, individuals with less education are more likely to have obesity, as are those who live in rural communities as opposed to people from suburban and metro areas.
Socioeconomic factors such as poverty and discrimination have contributed to higher rates of obesity among certain racial and ethnic populations: for example, black adults have the highest level of adult obesity nationally at 49.6 percent.
#9
Cherry flavoured anything. Have you tasted cherries? They tasted nothing like that icky flavouring!
Pirates of Zen Pants 2 years ago
Dr. Pepper doesn't taste like cherries. It tastes like prunes. -- Signed, somebody who once drank a Dr. Pepper
#10
Not so much disgusting as bland: Strawberries and tomatoes.
I remember going into a supermarket and seeing these absolutely huge strawberries. Biggest I'd ever seen. And bright red, like they were the juiciest, most ripe ever grown. Bought a punnet, went home and ate them, they tasted like wet cardboard. What a disappointment.
I'd say it was false advertising.
EDIT: Also, Twinkies. I grew up with Marvel comics and they had ads for all sorts of things at the back. One of the few ads I remember were for Twinkies. They looked delicious so when I got to the US I had to try one. Dessicated sponge wrapped around fake cream. The sponge was so dry and the filling so obviously unnatural that no self-respecting mould would go near the thing, I reckon it probably had a longer half life than platinum. I'm sure if humans nuke themselves into extinction any uneaten Twinkies will still be around when the lizards evolve civilization.
Pirates of Zen Pants 2 years ago (edited)
We grow tomatoes in the garden and they're delicious. The reason store-bought tomatoes taste like that is that they are meant to be durable, not tasty. This allows them to survive (kinda) the 2,500+ mile trek from California to New England.
#11
Canadian here... American soda. You can taste the corn syrup. All of my American friends drink Mexican Coke or that 'throwback' pop with sugar instead of corn syrup.
"When I was in Europe, people would recommend the restaurant that had the best tasting coffee or pies, or the place that does the best version of a regional dish. In the US, most people will recommend the place that provides the best value," EskimoExplosion said.
"In Europe, someone might describe to you how silky the mousse is when telling you about their favorite spot, in the US they tend to talk about how much food you get compared to the price."
#12
Circus peanuts are weird. Why would you shape them like peanuts if they taste like tainted bananas?
#13
Turkey bacon. It's vile. Only pork should be made into bacon, I care not what ye say.
RedBadgerCan'tSwim 2 years ago
Like many other foods, there are different quality turkey bacons. I agree that the cheaper stuff is gross but I've had some really good turkey bacon.
#14
Fluff, that marshmallow spread
Like you find ways to add extra sugar to everything, even toast
Firstname Lastname 2 years ago
I want a fluffernutter maybe once every couple of years but can't bring myself to buy a whole jar because it is too sweet. Almost wish it'd be appropriate to serve them as finger sandwiches and host a tea party.
#15
I absolutely think cakes made in America are too sweet with too much frosting. I always end up buying cakes from Asian or Mexican stores since they're not as sweet.
Dynein 2 years ago
Admittedly, most of what I know about US-American cakes comes from cakewrecks.com so it's likely not that accurate BUT what struck me reading that blog is how much cakes appear to be defined by looks. Ok, so it's a blog that's all about the look of cakes, but I gathered from the text around the pictures that this is really a thing there - kids wishing for barbie dress cakes or unicorn cakes and such for their birthdays. Growing up in Germany, I wished for... chocolate cake. Or lemon cake. What I mean is, it never occurred to anyone to define a cake by its looks - *all* that mattered was the ingredients. That might be changing now, but still, if you went to a bakery asking for unicorn cakes you'd get confused looks and staff helplessly waving at the assortment of strawberry cake (topped with strawberries), cherry cake (filled with cherries), cake heavy in nuts and unimaginatively dipped in chocolate, etc.
#16
American fast food. Honestly the quality of fast food in the U.S. is absolutely horrible compared to the very same chains in Canada. I'm talking about standard fast food like Burger King, McDonald's, etc...
String cheese muppet 2 years ago
It’s like the USA make it and then everyone else does it better
#17
Red Vines. As a New Zealander I expected them to taste like hopes and dreams, solidified into a long strip of candy... But alas, they really taste like a*s.
#18
'Imitation Pasteurized Process Cheese Food'. WTF is it? Why is it?
Pirates of Zen Pants 2 years ago
The only accurate words here are "Imitation," "Pasteurized," and "Processed."
#19
Casseroles made with "cream of" anything soup. Green bean casserole, tuna casserole, mushroom casserole. I know what those Campbells soups are like, we get them over here, and the idea of using them as a constituent ingredient in a main meal makes me shudder just from the idea of the sodium bomb. Especially those casseroles that are suggested to be topped with crushed chips.
Peanut butter and jam (jelly) sandwiches I can get behind. Pumpkin pie was a revelation of awesomeness for a new dimension on what to me is normally a savoury veg. Chicken-fried steak and sausage gravy? Genius.
But the idea of those casseroles make my stomach turn every time.
#20
As a Swiss:
* the cheese
* the chocolate
* the bread
And the coffee I once bought in a Dunkin' Donuts was horrible, never had another one.
Other than that I love almost everything... I could spend the rest of my life eating cheetos and kfc!
Pirates of Zen Pants 2 years ago
Dunkin' Donuts started in Massachusetts, and local people love it. When the Boston Marathon bombers were trying to evade capture in Watertown, the police shut down every store there except the Dunkin' Donuts, which became HQ for first responders. Keeping "Dunkies" open in an emergency is the most Boston thing ever to happen. www.bostonglobe.com/business/2013/04/19/cops-request-dunkin-donuts-stays-open/
#21
I have a friend from New Zealand. I took him to Dairy Queen for his first Blizzard. He ate about 3 bites of it and said "Do you want it? This is gross." I then ate 2 Blizzards and felt like a big fat f**k.
Pirates of Zen Pants 2 years ago
Dairy Queen is delightful. I will not die on this hill, but I will sit on top of it eating ice cream.
#22
The fact that your cheddar is orange. Whenever I'm in the States, I always get trolled by shredded cheddar in salads, thinking it's carrot.
Also anything from Arby's. Aerosol cheese. Pumpkin as a dessert item. Most straight-up chocolate, Hershey's is like biting into a block of chocolate flavoured wax. Ugh.
Amanda Rose 2 years ago
Pumpkin as a dessert item has been around for a while. The colonies were a frequent consumer of baked pumpkin puddings (basically the pumpkin pie without the crust). Not as sweet as today's pumpkin pie filling but still quite nice.
#23
Hominy grits.
I've been told they taste great and I'm sure they do, but I saw some in a hotel once and it looked like they left a bucket of cum out in the sun for a while.
Pirates of Zen Pants 2 years ago
I've never had these. They're a Southern thing. In the North, we're more likely to eat oatmeal or Cream of Wheat.
#24
Mountain Dew. It doesn't even taste good. I mean, it doesn't taste *bad* and it's addictive, but I want to scratch it out of my veins as soon as I hook up to an IV of it.
#25
Cincinnati Chili. Keep your spaghetti noodles out of my chili.
Pirates of Zen Pants 2 years ago
Great chili comes from Texas. Nobody's making a pilgrimage to Ohio for the chili!
#26
Maybe not disgusting, but just a weird combination to me:
Peanut butter and jam (Jelly for 'muricans)
I like peanut butter. I like jam. Together? No thanks.
#27
New York Street vendor hotdogs.
I was so looking forward to this on my trip. I got one and it was tiny and when I bit into it, it actually dissolved in my mouth after one chew.
The bread was sweet tasting (high sugar content I guess). Overall a real disappointment
#28
When I first moved here a few years back, biscuits and gravy weirded me out the most, but I have grown to enjoy it. Still looks like vomit, though.
I still can't stomach the standard supermarket bread here. It's so sweet. Same goes for average burger or hotdog buns.
I find Americans' need/desire to eat sandwiches with potato chips bizarre. Where I'm from, a sandwich is a meal in and of itself - it doesn't come with a side. And potato chips shouldn't be a side. Ever. They're gas station junk food. To me, it's like getting a Snickers bar as a side.
Ranch dressing. Why don't you people want to taste the actual salad you're eating?
Flavouring everything with pumpkin around Fall. Pumpkin pie, ok, fine, I've learned to like it. Things I will never accept pumpkin in: coffee, ice cream, pancakes, doughnuts, smoothies.
Granola as a "healthy" breakfast option. It's basically a dessert.
Taco Bell. OK, I haven't actually tried it, but it looks so unappealing in the ads and posters in the store windows - more so than any other fast food chain - I just can't imagine why anyone ever would. It's not like actually good Mexican food is expensive.
One thing I think is great about American food, however, is all the regional variety. Sure, a lot of it is a bit gross and incredibly unhealthy (can't say I enjoyed my encounter with Jello salad), but I love that you can try new things in every city and how proud people are of their local specialties. We don't have that back in Australia, and I think we're poorer for it.
#29
As a Brit who's been living here for a few years there are so many odd foods. I know, the UK isn't known for its high quality food (although things are a lot, lot better these days), but the following stuff mystifies me.
Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches - WTF? You take a salty spread that looks like it came from a milk-fed baby's nappy then add sweet jam? Stick it on sugary bread and people seem to love it.
Similarly putting syrup on bacon for breakfast. Bacon, food of the gods and the ultimate savoury snack and you cover it in cloying sticky sweetness. Can't get my head around it.
Pub cheese. The US doesn't make much good cheese but my New Jersey in-laws introduced me to this spreadable cheese going under the brand 'Pub Cheese.' It tastes like leper shavings, and the name only makes sense in that you have to spend all day getting utterly wankered in the pub to make it even remotely palatable.
White Castle burgers. Had one bite and that was enough. Oily meat that murders the taste buds and an aftertaste that hangs around like a fart in a spacesuit, yet people eat these by the dozen and made a film about how good they are.
Similarly Taco Bell. Food that not only looks, but tastes like someone else has eaten it before and excreted it into the wrapper.
Finally tea. You put the bag in the cup and pour boiling water over it. Please do not bring me a mug of tepid water and a bag for dunking. About the only place to get a decent cuppa is Starbucks. Also iced tea? I suppose in hot climates it kind of makes sense but it's foul tasting.
That said, soul food is marvelous, no country in the world does better BBQ (and the pizza can be as good as anything you find in Italy) and I could eat hash browns until they come out of my ears.
Jennik 2 years ago
The thing that often gets me is not the actual food but the recipes in American cookbooks/recipe sites. So many seem to be about a packet of [brand name] and a can of [brand name] and a teaspoon of [brand name]. Two issues: as a Kiwi I have no idea what these products are, and you are adding a whole load of additives etc to your meal instead of using "real" ingredients
#30
Mayoneggs
What do you think ?
Loki’s Lil Butter Knife 2 years ago (edited)
Ah yes, it’s time for another BoredPanda post stereotyping the United States. I’m not even from the US and have to roll my eyes so far back in my head when I see yet another post like this. Every country has their stereotypical odd food and junk foods. Yes, we get it BoredPanda— those quirky Americans live off a diet of marshmallow fluff and squeeze cheese with a daily dose of pop tarts and deep fried butter.
Katie Lutesinger 2 years ago
I spent about a month over there and the only one of these I actually encountered other than In 'n' Out Burger was the oddly sweet-tasting bread. So you've got my sympathies - you might as well go around claiming us Aussies eat nothing but Vegemite sandwiches and Burger Rings with Pavlova and Lamingtons for dessert. Actually the food was great! I went to this nice restaurant in Marin County and they had these perfectly cooked ribs which were just- *Homer Simpson style incoherent drooling*
Load More Replies...
Izzy Curer 2 years ago (edited)
American here. A lot of Americans don't actually eat any of these. A lot of these are junk food like you might be forced to eat on the road, or they're regional oddities, or maybe something you only eat on a special occasion. And some of these are just plain ingredients that you're really only supposed to eat mixed into something else, so I can see why people would be pretty weirded out by eating them whole. Yeah, some Americans eat pretty unhealthily, but it's by no means everybody, and it's not like people aren't going home and making home cooked meals. Tourists rarely ever get to see that part. If you're basing your opinion of American cuisine on fast food, of course it's going to look like c**p. 'Quintessential' is the last word I would use to describe the foods on this list. Except for maybe the 'cream of' casserole. That stuff is old-lady potluck gold.
Aunt Riarch 2 years ago
I'll be honest, I only read the "American food is disgusting" posts because American Pandas then dive in with their prized recipes and I'm making notes!
Load More Replies...
novasoup (she/her) 2 years ago
really, bp? another one of these? i remember when this website was for webcomics and art
Loki’s Lil Butter Knife 2 years ago (edited)
Ah yes, it’s time for another BoredPanda post stereotyping the United States. I’m not even from the US and have to roll my eyes so far back in my head when I see yet another post like this. Every country has their stereotypical odd food and junk foods. Yes, we get it BoredPanda— those quirky Americans live off a diet of marshmallow fluff and squeeze cheese with a daily dose of pop tarts and deep fried butter.
Katie Lutesinger 2 years ago
I spent about a month over there and the only one of these I actually encountered other than In 'n' Out Burger was the oddly sweet-tasting bread. So you've got my sympathies - you might as well go around claiming us Aussies eat nothing but Vegemite sandwiches and Burger Rings with Pavlova and Lamingtons for dessert. Actually the food was great! I went to this nice restaurant in Marin County and they had these perfectly cooked ribs which were just- *Homer Simpson style incoherent drooling*
Load More Replies... Izzy Curer 2 years ago (edited)
American here. A lot of Americans don't actually eat any of these. A lot of these are junk food like you might be forced to eat on the road, or they're regional oddities, or maybe something you only eat on a special occasion. And some of these are just plain ingredients that you're really only supposed to eat mixed into something else, so I can see why people would be pretty weirded out by eating them whole. Yeah, some Americans eat pretty unhealthily, but it's by no means everybody, and it's not like people aren't going home and making home cooked meals. Tourists rarely ever get to see that part. If you're basing your opinion of American cuisine on fast food, of course it's going to look like c**p. 'Quintessential' is the last word I would use to describe the foods on this list. Except for maybe the 'cream of' casserole. That stuff is old-lady potluck gold.
Aunt Riarch 2 years ago
I'll be honest, I only read the "American food is disgusting" posts because American Pandas then dive in with their prized recipes and I'm making notes!
Load More Replies... novasoup (she/her) 2 years ago
really, bp? another one of these? i remember when this website was for webcomics and art
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