A lot of the times I feel like is unproven claims about GMOs and preservatives . I feel like food overall in the US is not bad at all , although compared to other places I’ve been around the Caribbean and some Latin American countries . But I always see Europeans trash talk American food (at least on the internet, the actual consensus might be different ). I know there are some ingredients that are banned in EU , but we don’t know they are just knee jerk reactions . Overall, I don’t see any real scientific claim that the US food quality is “much” worse
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It’s just Euro’s being Euro’s. They’ve been looking down their noses at the rest of the world for centuries. I don’t expect them to change anytime soon.
Because terminally online europeans (and Americans) will nitpick any little thing about this country. Outside of certain banned ingredients in the eu, most of which likely aren’t actually harmful to humans, the food quality is much the same.
There’s a stereotype of Europeans going to the corner convenience store while visiting the US and thinking that it’s a normal grocery store.
Because they only go for the cheapest stuff such as Coors Light, Wonder Bread, or McDonalds, not try anything else, and jump to the conclusion that these are the pinnacle of American cuisine. All while comparing with the best quality products from their countries.
Cause they haven’t been here and think American food is Applebee’s and Olive Garden.
I have travelled a lot. Like I think I’m at ~~30-40~~ countries (I sat down and counted. Mid 20s) and several, like England/Germany/France, 4x times over. At least 3 Paris trips alone.
And to note, I’ve found really good food in England.
But in SF, in one day, I had $1 oysters for lunch with a solid bloody mary, a Portuguese dinner that was honestly better than most of the places I’ve had in Europe, and then 3am fresh papusas.
Or one day in LA, went to go see a movie, then took my wife to the best rated sushi place in the nearby area. I should have paid attention to the no prices on the menu, so it did cost $450 for the pair of us, but it was literal world class sushi with things like Japanese mantis shrimp and sushi presented in ways like 3 different body cuts of tuna from the same fish.
Or wander into a local bar in Hayward CA and have some Pliny the Younger beer (which is deserving of the hype).
To note, there are some legit terrible places for food in the US. It is a problem that there are areas where they have poor access to any fresh ingredients. That’s a legitimate issue. But to paint the whole of the country with the worst pockets isn’t fair. Something to fix? Yes. But there’s also amazing food, in major cities, with a diversity that I’ve often found unmatched.
You can buy generic white sliced bread, hot dogs, and processed cheese slices in Europe, or you can buy them in USA. You can eat junk food at a kebab joint in Berlin or you can eat junk food at a burger joint in Tampa. You can eat an unforgettable set menu meal on the terrace of a bouchon in Lyon, or you can eat an unforgettable bbq meal on a picnic table in back of a restaurant in Kansas City.
Even framing this as “Europe” is silly, it isn’t some monolithic entity and neither is the USA. Are we talking about all the great food from Moldova or Naples? From Cheyenne or New Orleans?
I think there’s a conception Americans eat a lot of processed food which I don’t think is false but people waive off a lot of Euro processed foods. It’s not at the level of the US but it’s not that huge of a difference at the grocery store.
Edit: there are a lot more easily accessible fast food places in the US right now also. It’s growing in the EU now though
Everything in America is worse, according to the internet. If you go by the internet, a gay atheist would be better served living in Iran than the US.
America supplies most of the world’s food. We just have a lot of options here. Taste wise, it’s just hard for most to choose Brussel sprouts and quinoa if you could get a double bacon cheeseburger for cheaper.
As an American living in Europe, I did notice differences in food culture. I make far more from scratch here, and things like baking bread is more common. If I try to make something from a modern recipe from the US, it almost always includes some canned or pre-made ingredient that I don’t have access to.
There’s some fantastic American food, but there’s no doubt that there’s a higher proportion of processed foods in American’s everyday lives. Also a higher proportion of people eat out and/or eat pre- made meals. Add to that higher standards of food in fast food chains in Europe, and then, of course, you get a stereotype of substandard American food.
It’s a generalization. There are healthy Americans and unhealthy Europeans, healthy and unhealthy food both places, but on average Americans are not eating as well.
I might add that Europeans generally have a better work/ life balance, so it’s easier for them to spend time in the kitchen.
Europeans pretend that they can sum up American cuisine to Applebees and Olive Garden. They take our worst stuff and compare it to their best. It’s ridiculous and willfully ignorant on their part. I’ve seen this type of trope parroted all over the internet. I can have 100+ different cuisines within just 50 miles of where I live, and my city is only the 25th largest in the nation and fourth largest in the state.
Outside of London and *only* London, you can’t really do that anywhere in Europe. They can’t beat our variety or our diversity in selection. And our high quality is just as good and often better than theirs. As always, they need to unite their entire continent to even be in the same conversation as us in terms of what we’re each capable of. Happy motherfucking fourth.
Perhaps it’s where they are in the US that may have more limited access to certain foods, more likely it’s the terminally online that like to talk shit. Case in point is American cheeses that get shit on a lot if only because people think that it’s just Kraft singles or cheese wiz and not some of the good ass cheese from Wisconsin.
Stupid Euro trash eating Jack in the crack for five days in a row while they shuttle back and forth from Disneyland and their hotel. Then they go home and tell everyone the food in America sucks. 😂
There’s literally restaurants for every kind of food you can imagine. Supermarkets full of fresh mWholefoods with organic, Trader Joe’s, Ralph’s etc.
Not to mention the best street food all over the place. You can be ultra healthy and never eat any junk if you want. The choices are all there.
There’s a mix of good and bad food.
If you eat a lot of ultra processed food and/or fast food then it could affect your health.
American living in Europe here – my experience has been:
(1) everyone one likes their own food – hell I prefer the cuisine of my state over others.
(2) I’m not sure europeans understand the USA as much as they think they do. I often find their ideas of our cuisine not inline with my experience.
Truth is, I find european fold bland, meat heavy, and overly processed because they tend to value time consuming recipes. I really miss access to spices and fresh vegtables that havent been blended and added to a milk base. But from their perspective, a non Michelin star taco cart isn’t good cuisine. So, guess I’m saying it’s important not to judge other places based on your value systems. The other place likely doesn’t want what you have
If we compare EU to US specifically:
In the US, the FDA takes a notably more hands-off approach to testing and inspections, often allowing new food ingredients unless proven harmful. This includes ingredients, for example, GMOs, growth hormones and chemical preservatives.
In Europe, the EFSA requires additives to be proven safe before approval and has banned the use of growth hormones and several chemical additives.
There was also an interesting YouTube channel that compared the exact same meals from international fast food chains like KFC and McDonalds for example.
These comparisons simply don’t bolster confidence in US food regulations even if all the additives are safe.
‘Food’ has a very broad definition. You may be talking about a nice meal at a quality restaurant and they may be talking about hotdogs from the gas station.
> I feel like food overall in the US is not bad at all
It’s not, but it’s different — but you’re also not hearing people shitting on the quality of the food in other countries.
>But I always see Europeans
Why do we always care so much about what Europeans think, especially at the expense of Latin America or Asia. Most of them have literally ***no idea*** what they’re talking about. They’re fed their own opinion.
>At least on the internet, the actual consensus might be different
It’s not, but they’re not as stuck up in person. We don’t see them shitting on the quality of their own food. Germans don’t trust their own chicken, for example. Europeans also like to base their claim in their interaction with other White people. They’ll shit on American food, even though they had Poke for lunch, and are getting Fajitas for dinner, because they don’t associate America with Hatch Chiles, Chile con Carne, Gumbo, Spam Misubi, BBQ Chicken, Clam Chowder, Regional BBQ, or Breakfast Burritos. The think puffy pizza, burgers, mac and cheese, and Fried chicken.
>Overall, I don’t see any real scientific claim that the US food quality is “much” worse
Because there isn’t — don’t get me wrong, there are some very stark differences — and this sub is so hell bent on protecting the US sometimes that they refuse to recognize them (it’s cringey, guys).
Some observations I’ve made:
What we suck at:
1. Bread in the US is inferior. It just is. You can’t get the quality of bread with the accessibility you can in France and Germany. Every time I say this, someone will get butthurt and cite some great bakery 30 minutes driving from their house. But I can walk 3 minutes to my local chain bakery here in Germany and get fantastic bread at a way fairer price. In general, bread in the US is inferior. The city (including the county) I moved from in NC, a county of 200,000 people didn’t have jack shit for bread. It didn’t even really have a bakery (just pastry shops).
2. Deli products are far superior and cheaper in Europe. Cheese, Wine, Pickled stuff, oil. My German partner thinks 11.00 USD/EUR for a bottle of wine is expensive. I think that’s more or less standard price. You can get a good bottle of wine here anywhere for like 4.00 EUR.
3. Price. Their wages here are lower, but their stuff is so much more reasonably priced.
What Europe sucks at:
1. International foods. Both in regular stores and niche stores. You average Walmart Asian section is really not bad compared to its German counterpart (Real, Marktkauf). While they might stock stuff from their neighboring country. It’s impossible to find some things. I’m Chinese and Mexican, and finding certain spices or products for those cuisines is fucking impossible or of inferior quality. It might be harder for a white person to see this, but I’m dating a (white) German, and the more time they’ve spent with me, the more clear this becomes. Even their “ethnic” markets are inferior to American ones. Ranch 99, Fiesta, Carnival, Mitsuwa Marketplace, Patel Brothers, or H-Mart all kick ass.
2. Variety/Niche products, and the quality of them. American stores cater to the consumer’s needs. Germans have become big on consuming vegan products, but a lot the vegan products in the states are of generally higher quality or are tastier — they are also more responsive to the consumer. I can find Vegan (Mexican) Chorizo or Egg-Substitute that is just better. My (German) partner really like cereal for example, and there is always a new cereal they want to try. I remember my colleague hosted some Italian girl with celiac disease, and she freaked out that the American store had Gluten-Free Oreos, for example. Or how many different flavors or spices or something there are. Even accessibility to types of veggies, my partner was surprised at all the different fruits and veggies there are at places like Walmart that would just ***never*** appear in a German store.
3. Meat. Especially anything that isn’t Chicken Breast. Beef in particular. You need to go to a butcher for specific cuts of meats, and ain’t nobody got time for that. It also makes diversifying what you cook difficult.
Things that are just different:
1. Vegetables (sorta). Fresh farm veggies being sold at the side of the road is more common. but I also trust my local bargain-bin Turkish store more for veggies than any big chain German store. I cannot find the veggies I need at big stores in Germany often times. The quality of veggies is also not great in Germany. They are rubbery and old. The American counter part is more likely to cater to their consumer or community, and there are things like HEB in Texas which always have the freshest veggies.
2. Interaction. Europeans go to the grocery stores to buy 4-5 things maybe 2-3 times a week. Americans go once a week or two and buy ALL the things.
American who has lived in Japan for 20 years (and worked around Asia).
IMHO, it is a combo of preferences, nationalism, and what the mainstream sort of “average” food is composed of. One thing I have found for example, is kid’s menus are generally pretty crap in the US – it is often a pasta which is pretty big and pretty plain, or a fried thing like chicken fingers with…fries. I hate to say it, but it is absolutely not great.
However, you have SOOOOO much variety in the US. The range is huge and the variety is broader than you get in many if not most countries. So like, compare your Whole Foods
free range chicken and robusto cheese instead of Pathmark and gov cheese to X Country and you have a totally different experience. And that range is not what you are going to see in many countries. Have your child order the seared scallops off of the adult menu instead of the chicken fingers with fries or eat at the local Thai restaurant and it is a different experience.
Personally, while I think it is pretty easy to find crap in the US, overall, the differences are fairly minor.
We have great quality!
Because they just want to hate on the US irrationally.
From my experience, Europe tends to lean towards processes that have existed for hundreds of years. Many of their regulations ensure people follow these time-tested processes and procedures. Then with anything New (flavors, ingredients, chemicals, processes, packaging) they sort of reject it.
On the other hand, since the USA was so large it struggled with transporting and preserving food. This made people far more accepting of these new processes and ingredients that helped. They of course are tested and assuming they pass those, they are allowed in food. However, some things sort of sneak by and we find out that oops, it had long-term side effects. This doesn’t happen very much anymore, but that idea can scare people.
Additionally, since the USA is made up of people from around the world, they sort of had to start over with their regulations. One of their main approaches was to assume that everything is contaminated. An example is how the FDA (food and drug administration) assumes that every egg has salmonella, so companies have to wash their eggs to remove it. This means the protective coating is removed, which means you have to refrigerate your eggs so they don’t go bad. None the less, this affects everything from eggs to hotdogs. As I mentioned above, as long as the cleaning method hasn’t shown a negative side effect, then it is generally allowed.
That is a very general statement as there are actually a lot of requirements and regulations related to cleaning food products, but for someone that isn’t used to their chicken being cleaned with chemicals… it sounds a bit scary. However, from my perspective, I know these chemicals were tested and weren’t shown to cause negative side effects.
Another example happened 5 years ago when people in the UK were freaking out about buying USA made chicken since it is cleaned with a chemical. The chemical is washed off and the chicken is tested to ensure it is. Additionally, any random droplet that somehow remained would be vaporized in the cooking process.
It is sort of funny considering all cooked meat had carcinogens in it naturally. Personally, I think a bigger concern would be the packaging and ensuring that it is food grade plastic, so it doesn’t leach anything toxic into the food. The USA is actually far more strict in this area. (or at least they were, things may have changed)
For the same reason Americans think all food in the UK is bad; it’s just random things (usually fried) covered in brown gravy.
(See what I did there?)
They’ve most likely never been to the US and some weird superiority complex they needs soothing.
PS to the people talking about GMO and preservatives, those are all very safe and keep North America’s food supply safe as well.
If you’re going to talk about food quality in countries, please provide studies about whatever ingredients you’re skeptical about. A lot of this is chemophobia.
Because no one understands how food works and the people buying into the line about American food being bad buys into the line that the US is completely unregulated.
As an example I’ve seen tossed around. Maximum safe limits of foreign objects in food.
I’m not going to dig up the specific numbers, but in the US, the FDA allows a small amount of mice/rat fecal droppings, hair, fur, etc. to be present in food. The FDA has determined that this amount is safe for Humans to be exposed to.
From my understanding, the EU allows no foreign objects in food (which is completely unreasonable, in my opinion, completely shutting out pests such as insects and mice is nigh impossible when dealing with such large amounts of smelly, delicious and sweet food).
The thing these people fail to realize, however, is that this limit is simply the amount allowed before the FDA is legally able to force the manufacturer to toss everything out and fine them.
The companies and employees themselves have an incentive to keep the food processing area as clean as they can. Because they also eat this food, the company doesn’t want to be known as the company where rat shit was found in their food, and concerns about sickness and allergic reactions from foreign debris in the food.
Just because the FDA has a legal limit on rat feces in food doesn’t mean that every, say, bag of Doritos is going to have the legal maximum amount of foreign debris in it.
Regarding GMOs, the first GMOs were produced after a major event that shocked Europe. The outbreak of Mad Cow and the infection of 229 people who all eventually died by vCJD. Europeans were untrustworthy of their governments, many of whom had claimed the beef the Europeans were eating was totally safe. And then for them to claim, while the outbreak is still occurring and the prions were now beginning to show in Humans in 1994, and saying: “Look, guys. I know we fucked up with the beef, but this GMO tomato is totally safe!”, I am empathetic to Europeans being suspicious when their regulatory agencies had completely dropped the ball regarding BSE infected beef.
They’re probably comparing the best elements of their food with the worst elements of ours. Hint: No one here thinks Cheez Balls are high cuisine.
Because foreigners like to visit fast food places and cheap chain restaurants instead of good local spots. They also like to go to convenience stores and pharmacies like CVS and act as if those are our grocery stores.
So back in the 1910’s through the 1940’s the Frankfurt School of philosophy formed, which was trying to answer the question “so why didn’t the proletariat rise up ~~agains the masses?”~~ against the bourgeoisie? And their answer was, more or less, “because the working class are stupid.” Diving into that question gave us all sorts of ideas that drive the modern world, like “Critical Theory” (which leads to “CRT”) amongst other things. (Today’s “late stage capitalism” stuff comes from all of that.)
A number of those philosophers essentially focused on America and American culture—and considered our “commercial culture” just as toxic (if not more so) than the German NAZIs. (Seriously; a few made the comparison back in the 1930’s before World War II broke out.)
One image of America the promoted was America as a vast wasteland of brainwashed working class people who were so thoroughly controlled by corporations that they were essentially like complacent hogs being fed whatever shit gets thrown into their slops. (If you’re thinking “brain-washed workers believing everything they see on TV while eating bland TV dinners”—you’d be right, except that this complaint predates both TV dinners and TV by a few decades.)
This idea of America as a vast wasteland of brainwashed idiots sucking at the teet of big business—having no culture, dying in the streets due to a lack of compassion, eating nothing but garbage fast food—caught on with Europe, whose politicians use this as a convenient distraction from their own domestic problems. (Consider the riots in France, for example—and the number of people saying “yeah, but at least it’s not the January 6th protests or the BLM protests in Portland!”)
Part of this is the notion that as America has no culture—beyond what we’re brainwashed to buy by large corporations who essentially own our souls—this implies that our movies and TV shows are shit (and you see that with comments about how we have no nudity, which apparently is a sign of American repression), our food is crap (because you can’t buy anything but Wonderbread and McDonalds and Kraft cheese singles), and (I just saw this in a travel Reddit group) our hotels are overpriced hell-holes where you can’t buy a comfortable bed for less than $250 while crossing the Midwest.
It’s these philosophical ideas dating back nearly 100 years, predating most of our modern problems, which drive this idea that American culture (or lack thereof) is the worst culture on Earth—a cancer, producing homogenized bullshit designed to keep our workers placated until they die, which is likely to happen in the streets because our health care system is only affordable to Elon Musk, living sorry and depressed lives of desperation, not even knowing there is another way.
You’re right; it’s not a “knee jerk” reaction. It’s been a century in the making. And it’s stories usually told by younger “Uni” students whose grasp of the world is shaky at best, and who are upset that America seems to be the strongest force standing in the way of their Marxist utopia.
(edits)
Because they’ve never heard of cooking at home.
For me it’s not the quality, but the price. You can find beef for pretty cheap, but the qiluality is not very good. Grass fed beef is healthier for you for example, but like double the cost. White bread is loaded with sugar, but much cheaper than a whole grain alternative. Processed foods are cheaper and easier, while healthier ingredients are more expensive and harder to prepare.
It costs more to eat healthy foods in the US compared to other places in the world where ultra processed foods are not as common. Where I live currently, all the beef is grass fed only by law, and most people buy fresh bread from the bakery. That still doesn’t stop people from eating hot dogs and doritos however……
>I don’t see any real scientific claim that the US food quality is “much” worse
Because it isn’t. I too could extrapolate one or two bad experiences with European food to the entire continent but I don’t because I’m not a child, lol.
I consider myself very critical of the US, but having traveled in Europe and Asia, I think the food critique is largely misapplied or misdirected.
Where the US has actual food problems is in the poorest neighborhoods. Because the people living there often can’t get to a grocery store, they may be stuck paying more for convenience store foods, which are more expensive and often are the lowest-grade food products, with a lot of added sugar or high-fructose corn syrup.
Outside of the poorer areas, it’s still common to encounter soft drinks and normal snacks which contain high fructose corn syrup (which tastes lousy when compared to sugar), or just way too much sugar in general. When returning from Europe or Asia, I’m shocked by how much sugar (read: a LOT) Americans put in everything. It contributes to a lot of our obesity problem.
That said, where America does shine is in our ‘food renaissance’ scene. In most big cities you can find vibrant food district which largely avoid the problems listed above. In my city (Oklahoma City), there are many districts which have some of the best food I’ve eaten worldwide, and the variety of authentic ethnic flavors is only matched outside of the US in the ‘world-class’ cities, and often not even then. The beer scene in this relatively obscure American city hands-down beats the best Munich had to offer – and I love German beer and Oktoberfest.
I should note that the revitalization of food is largely reserved for those with the disposable income to afford it, and is relatively recent, really only gaining traction in the last 15 years or so.
I’ve been asked quite a few times by Europeans whether Americans eat vegetables or whether we have vegetables in our grocery stores. It’s crazy because our vast variety doesn’t even compare to theirs.
They think we all eat Velveeta, spray cheese, wonder bread, and deep fried chicken tenders all day, every day. For some reason. Then, when you point out that’s not true they say well we ban certain ingredients and have better produce or some crap. Then some person from the US that had a great vacation usually pops up and co-signs talking about they never had better food in their life than in France and the US is terrible and they’re ashamed…
Because the only thing they know of American food is the overly-processed, shelf-stable stuff that ends up on the American foods display at their local market. If you were to open my pantry or fridge, sure, you’d find some junk food, but you’d also find whole grains, dried heirloom beans, fresh fruit, veg, and herbs (some from my own garden), a couple of different types of olive oil (including one from the U.S.), a large selection of spices, a few artisan cheeses, and lots of other tasty foods. We also have a box of Cheezits, so sue me.
It’s bullshit, but the anti-American crowd never lets reality get in the way of their prejudices.
We see it pretty often here.
European tourists will come to the US and make **huge** mistakes in sampling America:
They’ll go to fast food restaurants and act like that’s the only place to eat or it’s obviously where every American has every meal. They’ll eat at McDonalds or Taco Bell and act like they’ve had a representative sample of American food.
They’ll mistake convenience stores for grocery stores, going in to a corner gas station and seeing the rows of snack foods and sodas and thinking that’s a typical American grocery store. . .without fresh produce or meat and almost entirely processed snack foods.
Maybe they’ll visit a chain restaurant that’s near where they’re visiting. . .and they’ll think that O’Charley’s, Applebees, TGI Fridays, Red Robin etc. are pinnacles of American fine dining.
They’ll have the complimentary breakfast that comes with their hotel room. . .typically a continental breakfast with maybe some cheap sausage, biscuits, gravy, and/or pancakes, and think that’s the peak of American dining.
Often they won’t have a car, relying on public transportation or a cab/uber to take them places. . .and thus they will miss so many things in a country built to be explored by car.
. . .and they’ll compare all that to the supermarkets and finest restaurants they have back home.
They’ll typically go to a major city, or a theme park, and never explore the rest of the city they went to, staying in the downtown area or theme park area. They’ll only see convenience stores, their hotel, and the tourist attractions they
Because supermarkets are away from touristy areas, they’ll never go find one. The good restaurants will elude them. They’ll constantly complain about how they went to America and found it a desolate, barren place without any good food and marvel at how horrible Americans are.
We see it here all the time.
To be honest I think we have the best beer in the world. Just such a variety that you don’t seem elsewhere.
You just have to get into the craft beer and out of the buddddddddddd
I don’t know, anyone European people I’ve seen in online who’ve done a tourist trip to the USA, meaning multiple states for the express purpose of tasting food. Have generally raved how good it is. The complaints seem to be wasteful portion size, unhealthy, things are fried unnecessarily etc never heard complaints about taste unless it’s too much sugar.
An American in one of my groups went to Italy for 2 months. Said she ate pasta, cheese, and bread and drank wine every day. Things we avoid like the plague to drop weight over here. She said she didn’t care because it was the trip of a lifetime and she was going to enjoy it.
She ended up losing over 20lbs eating all the same stuff she avoided here in America. She says the food was so much better, homemade and real.
I get that, but I also suspect she was walking far more than she would back in America as well.
Preconceived notions to boost their little superiority/inferiority complex.
American tourists themselves are terrible about this. Especially travel influencers. Everything is better than America! Because they’re on ultra exclusive trips that only they can create content about, right?
My favorite is when people try to say McDonalds is “so much better” in other countries. And the ingredients are “fresher” Lmao! I’ve had McDonalds in maybe 6-7 other countries – it’s the same shit with maybe a couple different items or some special local items. It’s not farm to table to appeal to the refined Italian or French palate haha.
Things taste amazing in vacation, even if you don’t realize you’ve accidentally eaten at one of the tourist stop spots crammed with just tourists.
The access we have to food (at least in the major cities) is insane here. Our agriculture and robust global logistics gets us so many products, I think it’s incomparable to anywhere else I’ve ever been. I know a lot of Americans are perpetually embarrassed and feel like they have to put themselves down— I won’t blink twice when I say the US has some of the best culinary cities in the world.
Ignorance, mostly.
Because they haven’t really eaten here. I don’t base my opinions of other countries on propaganda.