30 ‘American’ Foods That Are Nasty According To Non-Americans
Interview With Author
When it comes to food, it seems like pretty much everyone has a strong opinion. It’s difficult not to be picky about what goes in your mouth and stomach. And when it comes to other countries' cuisines and the quality of ingredients, you’ll find that many folks are incredibly vocal about their likes and dislikes. Mainly the latter.
Redditor u/ergoegthatis asked non-Americans to share what American foods, in their opinion, are the ‘nastiest.’ We’ve collected some of their posts to show you the range of opinions others have about US food. Scroll down and be sure to voice your own thoughts in the comments, Pandas. What American food do you love the most? What do you absolutely hate? There are a lot of options to choose from.
Oh, and just to be completely open and honest with you, Pandas: we absolutely looove having a cheeky American meal… from time to time. Pretty much every country has its culinary stars and kitchen disasters—and a lot depends on personal taste and the lifestyle you enjoy leading. So take everyone’s opinion with a grain of salt. Usually, the issue isn’t with the food item or dish itself, so much as the low quality of the ingredients, the portion size, and whether you gobble everything up or eat slowly. Enjoying. Every. Single. Bite.
Bored Panda reached out to redditor u/ergoegthatis, and we had a friendly chat about the wide range of American food, what dishes they did and didn't enjoy at home and abroad, and why they definitely recommend traveling and broadening one's horizons.
"I was traveling outside the US and tried the cheeses there and they were a world of difference from the cheese-like substitutes we have in the US, which look and taste disgusting now compared to authentic cheeses. I look at them and think, 'Am I the only one grossed out by these fake cheeses?' A few days later, I came across an old news story about a famous donut company that turned its signature glazed donut into a drink, which also sounds nasty and not just because of how horribly unhealthy it is," they explained what drove them to create the thread in the first place. (We have to agree, cheese elsewhere is far better!)
Remember: everything in moderation; even food critiques!
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That bright orange plastic that you call "cheese".
Disagree. That stuff is only good if you are dirt poor and it's the only thing you can afford. I never had real cheese until I was in my late teens. Never ate another slice of plastic cheese after that.
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That's stuff not even cheese. I've seen a video of a piece of that cheese and a piece of real cheese being burnt with a lighter. The real cheese melted, the American 'cheese' burnt and shriveled up like plastic.
did this happen to be on blossom? haha. One of my favorite YouTubers, Ann Reardon does debunking food videos and has some pretty good explanations on why that happens. Here's her video on the cheese, it's the first thing she goes over! https://youtu.be/vSBSzWmjXO0
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English here, I love this stuff on burgers and hot dogs. Though I don't know if there's a difference with UK/USA versions
Actually, McDonald's uses "their very own blend of processed cheddar cheese" which is 60% cheddar. Try to imitate a McMuffin using processed American slices and you'll immediately taste the difference!
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Actual American cheese is better than those individually wrapped "American singles" that are labeled "cheese food" or "processed cheese."
ps.please accept my apologies for the disgrace of kaft singles.
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I don't know guys. I enjoy fancier cheeses like Parmigiano Reggiano aged for 24 months, triple créme Brie, etc. But sometimes I also have a craving for Kraft Singles.
It has its place in a burger or a toasted sandwich - the notion that a classic burger is somehow improved by supposedly upgrading the ingredients to more expensive versions (E.g. sourdough, aged cheddar, etc.) ruins the flavour and misses the point.
I got forced to eat this as a kid and now people wonder why I don't like cheese
It is not cheese it is not even considered cheese
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I loved Kraft slices as a kid as that was basically what I only chose to eat as a toddler. It’s called American Process Cheese not fufu cheese. Cheap and tasty. I still love the stuff. Even Velveta. I pick my battles but sorry, this hill is where I’m gonna die on. Sorry France. Not sorry.
We don't call it cheese, we call it "cheese food". I admit I don't know what that means, but I also don't eat it.
Many Americans, including myself, also consider this nasty, so calm tf down.
Instand Ohrwurm... 🎶 Nananananana, das ist der Hawaii Toast, Toast Hawaii schmeckt allen gut ... 🎶 ... Dreck, verfluchter... jetzt muss ich morgen Scheiblettenkäse besorgen =.=
I just ran into the kitchen and made myself a grilled cheese sandwich. You dont know what you are missing.
Process cheese was invented in Switzerland, but Americans found a use for it in the fast food industry because it melts so easily. You can get any cheese you want in America, but if you want a fast food cheeseburger or nachos you're going to get process cheese. Process cheese also doesn't need refrigeration, so if you insist on buying cheese and crackers from a 7-11 you'll get process cheese too. If you like good cheese, quit going to McDonald's
It's not bright orange like the American one (I'm always most by the colour), but we have those kraft singles plastic cheese in Australia too. It's really only liked by kids and people that don't like real cheese!
As an American, I never eat this stuff - it is not food, it is not good, it should never be purchased.
I'm American and I haven't eaten this stuff in decades.
Funny enough, that kind of "Processed Cheese" was invented in Switzerland. Someone brought it to the USA and started selling it. Originally it was for its long shelf life. The Swiss wouldn’t touch it with a 10ft pole. Ever tried to use Emmental instead of this yellow slice of assorted chemicals? Much better! (For the record, everything is made of "chemicals". Maybe except anti-matter and dark matter? Who knows? The correct term is "processed")
As an American, I won't even eat this stuff. Kraft cant even call it "cheese"
Get real American cheese from a deli. Not the single slices. Real American cheese from a deli is good although I can name 10 other cheeses that are still better.
You can buy those in Germany as well. It's known as "Scheibletten" Käse. (Not sure if that's a brand name.) I actually loved it as a child, but children's tastes are usually weird. Haven't touched them as a grown-up though.
I grew up really poor, I mean REALLY poor, like "no furniture" for a few years "poor". I loved this stuff. I remember when we couldn't afford all four food groups. Even craft cheese slices were a freaking luxury. I'm glad I can appreciate stuff even if it's not fancy or high quality.
That is usually called, "cheese food", "processed cheese food" or " imitation cheese product". whatever it is, they can't call this junk "cheese". It's disgusting.
I have it forever in the fridge to melt on our tuna melt recipe. Not going to waste decent cheese melted on a fancied up tuna sandwich. One other tip, I used it for a sandwich every day when I was still working at our downtown library. No fridge to keep food safe and too expensive to go out to eat but these can survive room temperature and not kill you. 😉
I’m American and American cheese is not only the worst cheese in the world it’s the worst “food” too. It makes me gag
I’m American myself but I hate American cheese cuz it’s like wax paper. I prefer tillamook sharp cheddar slices(Which I highly recommend) and pecorino Romano.
Dudes - it melts well. It goes with everything. From hamburgers, bologna sandwiches (with yellow mustard!), mac and cheese, nachos and any snack. Don't diss the American Cheese!
I have a little secret to let you in on, there are Americans out there, quite a few actually, that also find these things disgusting.
By law they cannot call it "Cheese" if it isn't made from milk, but they can call it "Cheese Food." And you're right... Cheese Food is disgusting! It's not even good for grilled cheese sandwiches.
Three words. Philly Cheese Steak. I've tried many quality cheeses but these singles really are the best.
I'm an American and I don't consider this **** "food", much less edible.
As you can tell from my dp, I am pretty cynical and mocking in my opinions on America. Yet as a non'-American and someone who barely even enjoys eating...many of my favorite foods are amazing and cheese slices are amazing. Give me a grilles cheese with a few think slices of kraft.
its yummy, i only get to have it on occasion, it is a treat to me and my brother
this is not cheese. this is processed cheese food. I don't eat this c**p. I don't think I have had any for 40+ years since I could buy my own cheese.
To be fair, we don't call it "cheese", we call it "processed cheese food".
Even the FDA says there is not enough cheese in "American Cheese" to grant it the "cheese" label...
What am I looking at (seriously!)? (German, 44, baffled, here). Is this supposed... food? 😳
Blech. Real block non dyed cheddar with natural ingredients actually costs much less and is much more nutritious…. We buy it on sale and freeze it. Freezing makes it very easy to crumble for anything that requires melted cheese too!
I am American and have never understood why people like it, it literally tastes like plastic
Yes, it is a cheese available in the US. No it is not what most of us consider cheese.
Listen, that stuff was introduced during WW2 when fresh foods of all kind were hard to get.
Havarti makes an absolutely delicious grilled cheese sandwich. PASTEURIZED MILK, CHEESE CULTURE, SALT, ENZYMES. Try three different cheeses on your grilled cheese. Up your game, we are not children anymore.
Kraft American cheese: MILK, CHEDDAR CHEESE (MILK, CHEESE CULTURE, SALT, ENZYMES), WHEY, MILK PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, MILKFAT, CALCIUM PHOSPHATE, SODIUM PHOSPHATE, CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, SALT, LACTIC ACID, ANNATTO AND PAPRIKA EXTRACT (COLOR), NATAMYCIN (A NATURAL MOLD INHIBITOR), ENZYMES, CHEESE ...
I'm American and I absolutely HATE American cheese. I will use cheddar if I want a grilled cheese sandwich. Ugh that stuff is horrible.
I say ALL the time to my partner that of all the amazing cheeses in the world, this $ HIT is our contribution?
I'm an American and I have to say I agree. That stuff's kind of gross.
One thing American Cheese is great for: As an addition to cheese sauce. It contains sodium citrate which makes any cheese sauce smooth and silky. Add 2 slices American cheese for every cup of cheddar or whatever cheese you're using. You can also just buy sodium citrate for the same outcome.
Here's an explanation of what you are using as 'cheese'. Nice huh ? Processed cheese is produced by blending shredded natural cheese of varying maturity with emulsifying salts and other ingredients. The mixture is heated under vacuum with continuous agitation until a homogeneous plastic mass is obtained.
These are only used for certain things, get real! There's plenty of good cheeses you just have to go to the store and get one what a bunch of idiots! And you're only talking about Europe try getting cheeses in Asia and South America, very limited I can go to the store and find hundreds of cheeses different types don't believe everything you read.
The US government requires that it be labeled as "cheese food", not cheese.
Hate this! Idk if it’s the one thats one burgers, because then theyre good.
It is nasty to AMERICANS, too. It's not even cheese. I grew up using it for grilled cheese but now I do a four to five cheese combo on some super thick sourdough and O. M. G.
I personally refer to 'Buttercheese' as butt cheese. And they put Gouda on pizza in many parts of Europe. It doesn't get any more disgusting than that. Go back to your beans on toast and your Vienna sausages. You have no idea what good food is.
That cheese is no different than what the Germans call Schmelz-, Streich-, or Schablettenkäse. Seeing as they are the largest producer and consumer of cheese in Europe, it can't be as bad as you make it out to be. I'm also pretty sure that it was sent to Europe during/after WW2 and helped your grandparents survive. Never heard them complain!
Little bits of this stuff used to be the only way I could convince my cat to get in her carrier when she was a kitten. That was in 2006. Essentially, I can't come up with any other use for it than "animal bait" lol
We have that/something extremely familiar in Germany too. My father would occasionally do oven toasts: take a slice of bread, put some cold cut, hardboiled egg, pickles or what else you like on it, cover with cheese and into the oven with it. I always had to scrape that "cheese" off because the texture of it would make me gag. Had to buy my own cheese from my allowance.
Not crazy about cheese slices, though they do make a killer grilled cheese. My American friend brought some American cheese from the States, it was a big sliced log! I thought it would be just like the cheese slices in the picture, but it was like cheddar cheese slices and kraft singles slices had a cheese love child, and it was soooooo good on my veggie burger.
I don't eat them anymore but they were good. I used to take bologna and cheese with a little mustard. I don't eat either anymore but my mom still likes it. A funny story. When my kid was around 4 or 5 she saw a piece of the cheese and picked up off the counter and tried to eat it. It was from her kitchen fake food.
Cheese. So many varieties, names, flavours, texture, shape. Yet, Murica can only distinguished between American and Swiss cheese. For that later, it doesn't even cover this country vast variety. Lazy brained.
I am American and that stuff is not food. It is cruel and unusual punishment.
In redditor u/ergoegthatis' experience, American cuisine is "radically different" from what they've seen around the world.
"The emphasis in American food is on taste and speed. This doesn't mean all of American food is like this," they pointed out.
"The US is huge with a lot of different foods such as jambalaya, chili, gumbo, Kentucky burgoo, shrimp and grits, Brunswick stew, and many other dishes with history. But there is definitely a characteristic that has been influencing a lot of American food which is speed and taste," the author of the thread shared with us.
"This also affected how we eat: quickly, in massive portions. In other countries I traveled to, I noticed many eat slowly and enjoy the food while making conversation. They also have much healthier food, more plant ingredients, and less sugar/flour/additives."
Those Midwestern "fruit salads" where half of the ingredients is marshmallow fluff or mini marshmallows, Jello, whipped cream... I have a high tolerance for American food, but I cannot handle these, or even comprehend why and how they exist.
I'm with you on that. I don't see it around much these days so hopefully people got the hint it's gross and that we shouldn't abuse fruit like that
However, it's not like everything is automatically delicious abroad. "Dishes I didn't like abroad were some super pungent cheeses in Europe, sheep tripe in the Middle East, and excessive use of coconut in Asian countries," they opened up to Bored Panda. "I'm used to this being part of desserts but there it's added to even savory dishes."
The redditor has a lot of favorite American dishes, too, and it's going to be very relatable to most of you Pandas. "My mom's cooking of course! Nothing greater in the whole world. Brown rice and seasoned chicken/lamb is her specialty. Other American dishes I love are Philly cheesesteak (with real cheese only), grits with butter, and Texas barbecue." There's absolutely nothing like a homemade meal, prepared with love.
"I'd like to add some advice to everyone, especially Americans: travel! Get a passport and travel. There's a whole world out there of culture, art, history, relaxation, and of course, food. The US is large and diverse but that is not enough. If you don't travel to many other countries, you have not lived," the OP urged.
Those cakes that have large amounts of fondant on them. The time and talent it would take to make one of these cakes is unreal but fondant is just nasty tasting in my opinion. That was not meant to offend anyone.
The prevalence of high fructose corn syrup in EVERYTHING. Unfortunately, being in Canada, it's bleeding over the border as a lot of products here are manufactured in the USA.
I hate this soooooo much. Fortunately, they're putting out more products without high fructose corn syrup. I really wish we'd stop putting that cráp in everything
American bread. I'm sure you can get good bread somewhere in the US, but the generally available, sugary, long-shelf-life bread is so appalling.
Now, of course, your export of fast-food restaurants has nothing to do with haute cuisine, but any burger would be so much better if at least you used acceptable bread.
Be honest, Pandas, are we the only ones craving artisanal cheeses with a side of junk food? It’s perfectly fine to have a cheat meal once in a while. But if your entire diet consists of sugary snacks, meals dripping with saturated fat, with no fiber to be seen anywhere, you’re probably wrecking your health.
Unfortunately, the cold hard truth is that the people living in the United States have pretty awful dietary habits. Far from everyone; but most. The CDC found that 73.6% of all American adults over the age of 20 were either overweight or obese. Meanwhile, 41.9% of adults are considered to be obese. Nobody deserves to be body-shamed. However, obesity shouldn’t be celebrated, considering the health risks it poses.
Obesity leads to a far lower-quality life and increases one’s health risks. It can lead to serious health conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer, clinical depression, and others.
Though there are various other factors to consider when it comes to health and obesity (e.g. genetics, eating disorders), the general tendency is that Americans eat poorly, live more sedentary lives, and simply don’t exercise enough. However, this health crisis isn’t a purely American one. For example, the NHS reports that in the UK, two-thirds of adults are overweight or obese.
That Thanksgiving dish Americans love with marshmallows on top of sweet potatoes — it sounds and looks disgusting.
Some of the savoury Jello recipes from the 50s and 60s look grim.
the chocolate out there is FOUL
unfortunately true. I'm so glad I moved to Panamá and live on a chocolate farm. Totally serious; suck on cacao seeds all the time for a snack.
In the US, the FDA has a reactive approach to food standards inspections. What this means is that food additives are allowed, unless they’re proven to be harmful. Meanwhile, in Europe, the exact opposite happens: regulations are stricter. Additives must be proven to be unharmful before they’re allowed to be used in food items.
According to Politico, the FDA is pretty much a hot mess. “Food is not a high priority at the Food and Drug Administration. [...] Over the years, the food side of FDA has been so ignored and grown so dysfunctional that even former FDA commissioners readily acknowledged problems. There’s a long running joke among officials: The ‘F’ in FDA is silent,” writes Helena Bottemiller Evich.
Overall, this means that food grown and manufactured in the US is more likely to have growth hormones and chemical preservatives in them. This isn’t good news for someone who wants to lead a healthy and happy lifestyle! Compare the food that the US is known for with that from, say, Italy, Spain, or Japan. The cultural difference, when it comes to the culinary arts, is massive: quality local ingredients and smaller portion sizes (among other important factors!) result in a higher quality of life. And the life expectancy speaks for itself.
In the US, the average life expectancy is 74.5 years. Compare that to 81.6 years in Japan, 80.1 years in Italy, and 79.7 years in Spain. The difference is staggering. However much we might like that fake orange cheese, it really isn’t good for us.
I once had a pizza in America and it had ranch dressing on it. Ranch dressing doesn't really exist in Europe and it's this weird salty fatty mayo-like sauce and it certainly does not belong on a pizza. Or inside a human body for that matter.
Boiled peanuts. My wife loves them and every time we drove through South Carolina we had to stop and buy them. The stench was so bad I would have to roll the windows down. Those peanuts and Lindsey Graham are on my top two hate list for that state.
I think I would eat boiled peanuts before I would eat Lindsey Graham.
Chinese Canadian. I'm going to provoke a lot of proud Southerners with this. Sweet tea is sugar water with a hint of tea.
My first experience of sweet tea was at a Floridian McDonald's. I ordered iced tea and I got the question of "sweet or unsweet?" I'm dying of the heat and humidity (Canadians don't do well in hot weather) and I wanted slightly sweetened tea and I didn't know the history of sweet tea (sugar was expensive so people showed off by mixing diabetes inducing amounts of the stuff into their tea) so I was expecting anything but a sugar syrup in a cup.
I went back and bought a bottle of water. If a 12 year old with no easy access to sugar thinks it's too sweet to drink, it is.
Also, any mayo based salad! Ewww.
I had a deep-fried Mars bar at a festival in America the first time I ever visited and I'm reasonably sure it's going to give a few of my ancestors diabetes
Twizzlers, I found some in a shop in London and decided to buy some, they were the nastiest things I'd ever tasted and for the price I paid for them, I'm disappointed
When they introduce me chicago pizza something in me died, that should not be called pizza is just a devil fat pie.
You know the expression “There’s no such thing as bad sex or bad pizza” your pizza is like sex with a corpse made of sandpaper. LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING! THIS IS NOT PIZZA! THIS IS TOMATO SOUP IN A BREAD BOWL! THIS- IS AN ABOVE GROUND MARINARA SWIMMING POOL FOR RATS! Let me tell you something about your f**k!ng NOT PIZZA! I wanna know when I get drunk and pass out on my pizza that I’m not gonna drown. Let me tell you something! I look at this-! MMMARGH! YOU SONOFAB!TCH! I LOOK AT THIS! MEEEAUGH! GABBA-GOO! I look at this— When I look at your deep dish f**k!ng pizza I don’t know whether to eat it or throw a coin in it and make a wish. AND IF I MADE A WISH IT WOULD BE THAT I WISH FOR SOME REAAAL F**K!NG PIZZA!
Their dessert. I lived there for 3 years and the amount of sugar they dump into their desserts are mindblowing. Beautiful to look at but holy s**t were they sweet as hell.
And that's the reason I learned how to bake. Everything you buy here is too freaking sweet and I can't handle it; sometimes it makes me gag when I try a dessert
The felt obsession with anything deep-fried is unnerving to me. There's a good few things that are excellent deep-fried, don't get me wrong, but putting literally anything in batter and frying it seems... self-destructive at best.
sometimes I think it's just curiosity! Like I see something I love that's deep fried... I wonder what it'll taste like ngl. Especially at fun events like festivals. It's not like we're eating it all the time
I tried a big-name American chocolate brand once but couldn’t eat it due to the vomit smell and taste.
At this end of the galaxy-scale: Belgian chocolate. At the other end: American chocolate.
I find biscuits and gravy to be absolutely disgusting. But I'd like to counter-balance that by adding how crazy delicious corn bread is and why on earth hasn't it become a staple here in Europe? It's SO yummy!
I love fresh homemade biscuits and gravy. I do find that in restaurants the gravy is usually too salty, has too much flour or is a congealed glop so I'll only have it if I make it. Also, cornbread with a little maple butter is heavenly
I hate scrapple. There's a reason the word 'crap' is in the middle of it.
American here, absolutely DESPISE pre-packaged frosting. It’s either as hard as a rock or a liquid. Don’t know what they put in that stuff but it’s just awful.
My son and I may be considered weird here but we're ok with it. We both despise frosting/icing. Nope, not gonna eat it on cake, not gonna like the frosting knife or stick our finger in the bowl to taste. It's mostly lard/shortening and a touch of flavor with food coloring. Fondant? Oh, hell no. We will scrape a cake until it crumbles to get it off so we can eat it. If I make cake or cupcakes at home I leave about half unfrosted for us to enjoy. We do actually like the frosting made with whipped cream (real, not the Cool Whip c**p in a bowl) but we eat it in a thin layer. I also will sometimes bake cakes with chocolate or caramel chips, different fruits, or even pudding in the mix if we want a little more flavor at times. To each their own, I suppose!😉
Ghirardelli, Guittard, Dove, Scharffen Berger, and hundreds of smaller companies are fine. Pretty much just avoid anything you would find near the register at a grocery store
dove chocolate - 10/10. Their dark chocolate is perfect if you don't want something too sweet
Corn dog
Note: this post originally had 33 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
At the risk of having Americans, & perhaps others, grab tar, feathers & pitchforks, oreos are highly overrated!
I'm an American and fully agree that they're nasty.
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Im an American and j think the only thing I've had on this list is pancakes, pop tarts, and maybe one more i forgot lol, ive never met a sane American whos touched one of the more vile items on thjs list (canned whole chicken)
we've had a lot of these here in south africa due to watching americans eat it on TV. we always regret it. lol.
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For people calling out the "America bashing" on BP. I love these posts. I don't think the inability to take a step back and laugh at the country as a whole (or even regionally) is a healthy way to go about life. Overblown "patriotism" or the whole "America is the best" concept doesn't make you cool or edgy, it just furthers the stereotype that Americans are stupid and self obsessed. Personally, these types of posts are a humorous little escape from the current state of the country. Also, of all the posts to complain about, why are you choosing to complain about the one based on food? SMH.
I loved reading this topic, and it doesn't irk me personally, but I think what gets some people, maybe, judging by the comments, is that BP frequently celebrates this country or that country, but when it comes to bashing what's bad about a country, it always seems to be The US. While this isn't really always true (I've seen other countries get bashed), it's not completely untrue either (since, yeah, it's usually the US).
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Good root beer is amazing but I grew up on it. Good root beer float (root beer + vanilla ice cream) is amazing. But to me Vegamite is foul while Aussies love it. It's what you're used to.
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I would like to downvote this entire post. I'm bloody fed up with US bashing.
It would be far more effective to not comment altogether. if we all stopped commenting and completely ignored these lists then Bored Panda would get the message far more quickly. They rely on comments and clicks to sell the advertising. The problem is that it generates a LOT of attention and comments normally and it doesn't matter very much from the advertising point of view if they're all condemning the article. Even my writing this comment adds to it all.
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Why does bored panda continue to call out Americans on different subjects? I’m British and there are some gross foods eaten in our country.
yes, you do have haggis and blood pudding, but that's the scots.
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From an European point of view, none of the American food is considered as food.
what the f**k is your guys problem with Americans? I get that some of our stuff is weird to other people but you dont see entire articles dedicated to dunking on other nationalities like the Chinese or Brazilians or anyone else!
And let’s not forget the Chinese have a festival where they eat DOGS!!!! You can watch the whole process on YouTube if you can stomach it.
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American colon cancer survivor here. Pretty sure the food here caused my cancer. 5 years in remission. Just had my 5th reconstructive abdominal surgery (I'm literally stuck in bed on my back healing rn) Planning to move out of the US asap. I'd like to survive to old age thanks. Eff the FDA.
try france. They smoke and don't get as much cancer.
Load More Replies... I’m American, and I agree with this list, except for 32, 33, and whatever number ranch was. There’s too much c**p in our food that shouldn’t be there in the first place, and nearly everything has added sugar. This is a decent chunk why the majority of the population is overweight.
A lot of this stuff is a matter of taste. The main exception is the savoury jello
No one is saying that no-one likes them. It's just the rest of the world is disbelieving that ANYONE likes them. But we all like things that we grew up with no matter how terrible. People in the US do seem to like sweet things more than most, or at least their palates have been normalised to more sugar/sweetness.
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The issue with lists like these is that they ignore the deeper sociopolitical factors that contribute to the existence and creation of these foods; namely poverty and ignorance. It’s sad to make fun of these foods while making sweeping generalizations about Americans, ignoring that a lot of these are eaten out of necessity, accessibility, and lack of education—factors that are out of many people’s control. High quality foods exist throughout America, especially in big cities where you can get pretty much any kind of food from any cuisine around the world.
Let’s not also forget some people live in food deserts and fresh produce for a family of four is wildly expensive with inflation.
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The straw man is strong in this one. Most Americans think this stuff is trash too, with a few exceptions that require cultural context. Stop conflating novelties, generic knockoffs, carnival confections and cheap c**p foisted upon Americans with stuff we actually want or value.
Good grief... again. Some American stuff is gross. This just in- there is gross stuff from around the world! Also, there is lost of amazing food in the US just as there is in... Every. Country. On. Earth. Most of us American don't like most of the stuff on this list. Some of this items are just not true, some are extremely uncommon while others are subjective. My wife loves biscuits and gravy while I don't care for it. Why not have this list for I dunno, every country on earth. FFS BP...
I wouldn't exactly call this an interview with "the writer", unless you're using buzzfeed standards (writer is someone who can copy and paste). Also, you've published this same article dozens of times - why again?
I think there is really just one post of things non-Americans think are gross and they just rearrange the order
And to think I had the impression that BP was done with US bashing posts. Oh well.
Most people in the US are great. But then SOME people say "The US is number one! We are the greatest!" and we have had US tv show propaganda, all the way from the black and white Lone Ranger telling us how great the US is. So occasionally we push back.
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I think we're picking on the Yanks too much! In the name of fairness we should make a list like this for every country. Every country has / does c**p that other countries don't like. Except the Swiss.
Yeah, most of us don’t eat this stuff either. Except biscuits & gravy, I love biscuits & gravy. But look, every country has foods that foreigners think are gross.
Is it funny that biscuits and gravy are great but poutine isn't? It's almost the same thing, gravy on a carb, but instead of biscuits it's fries.
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It was a trip to Germany that I discovered this myself. Thank goodness for Aldi!
While I agree many "American foods" are "nasty", I can say the same of foods I've had on other continents. And that counts Europe. Examples just from Europe: Nutella; liverwurst; any blood soup; eels (jellied or otherwise). (Examples from USA: orange-colored anything that isn't in the produce section; some hate peanut butter; breakfast cereals that are designed to create a market for insulin). From outside my native US, also poutine (sorry, Quebec, but no); and queen ants. ( I did try those. Oh. My. No.) The idea, however, that the US is the only center of c**p food is silly. Plenty of high-fat/sugar/etc. all around, and often as "snacks". So, please, relax and stop the judging.
I can't understand why Americans take perfectly good food and absolutely ruin it for example cheese, chocolate, coffee, bread and meat to name a few
Rens, I've never cooked for you. I can assure you that I serve good cheese, chocolate coffee and bread. You would be happy with what I served you. You are making sweeping generalizations. I'm Greek American and while I love Greek food, in Greece they put instant coffee and sugar on cold water, stir it up and call it a frappe... and people love it while to me it tastes like bad instant coffee from the 1960s! But I would never try to pin "disgusting coffee" on the Greeks... because they also have amazing coffee just like we have amazing, cheese, chocolate, bread, etc.
Load More Replies... I think towards the end it's more of "you haven't had the right one". Like the sweet tea. Who f*****g judges all sweet tea from McDonald's??? Someone who doesn't understand sweet tea I'd say.
A message to BP from America... Eh hem. Go f*** yourselves. That will be all. Thank you.
I have noticed that in American recipes for savoury dishes, there is sugar in EVERYTHING! A tiny pinch a tomato dish to cut through the acidity, sure. But 4 tablespoons in a curry? (legit recipe I made a couple of weeks ago from the Food Network site) WHY!?! NO!
Bookmarking Rannveig Ess's (don't / care) Reply: Yes, Andrew...wouldn't that be interesting? I'd love to hear what everyone ELSE in the world also finds disguting in their countries. Wouldn't it be great if this was just put out there as a topic for everyone to contribute to, instead of the usual US bashing? There are entire YT sites showing people from other countries eating the foods from other countries and the wild disgust of it. But nooooo. BP has to cut and paste it about food now? How about : Shirako in Japan. Dried pig blood tofu in China. Kangaroo in Australia. Tuna eyeballs in Japan. Balut, developing duck embryo boiled in its shell, in the Philippines. Fried tarantulas in Cambodia.White ant eggs soup in Laos. Jellied moose nose in Canada. Boshintang in Korea.Gummy salmiak candy flavored with ammonium chloride in Finland (lived there..this stuff is horrible) Mimolette cheese in France that has cheese mites on it. How about Goose Blood Soup (Juka) from Lithuania? but no ... it's Americans.
These things are available, but no one I know eats them. I cook every single day. Make my own sauces. Make my own stocks. Of course I'm an American, so I must eat disgusting things because I simply have no class.
Didn't see chipped beef on toast on the list. Grew up watching my parents eat that. Nicknamed it sh!t on a shingle.
The only thing I’ve had on this list is pancakes. I know of less than half of them. These aren’t staples of American food anymore than Haggis is if the UK. TBH, as someone who’s 1/2 Dutch & 1/2 American, having lived in both places, I’m equally as appalled by both nations’ unique dishes. Having lived in Hawai’i for the better part of 30 years, I’m even more grossed out by some of the traditional food here no matter how much o respect it’s history.
Haggis is definitely not UK, that is Scottish. A considerable amount of traditional food came about because of people being poor.
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you can buy canned creamed possum in gravy in the US... MEGA-REVOLTING!!! canned-pos...b149ef.jpg 
You can also buy jelly belly jelly beans that taste like skunk - again a gag gift.
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I lived in the USA for a year as an exchange student. Some things I could not stomach: American chocolate. Ice cream. Yoghurt. Frosted cakes. Bread. Most fast food places. Some things I loved: donuts, bagels (a good alternative to bread!), Chai tea (perhaps it was a fad in those years...), diner food, and lots of regional New Mexican cuisine.
I'm really glad I have low standards. I love most of this stuff ... though, I don't know, maybe it's because I haven't lived in the US for over 20 years and most of it has changed? Or maybe it's because I grew up poor, and we didn't always have a lot of food, or a lot of choice, so we learned to like what we got. Either way, I think I'd much rather have low standards and be happy with what I eat.
as an American I agree with most of these, except biscuits and gravy, which is amazing when made well, with lots of pepper and butter, and the sweet potatoes with marshmallows has to have pecans on top. Or no marshmallows and just pecans. Pancakes with just butter are fine
You have the marshmallows and sweet potatoes, as part of the meal, not as a dessert?
Load More Replies... you can buy cooked canned possum in the US.... mega-revolting!!!! canned-pos...29abcb.jpg 
At the risk of having Americans, & perhaps others, grab tar, feathers & pitchforks, oreos are highly overrated!
I'm an American and fully agree that they're nasty.
Load More Replies... Im an American and j think the only thing I've had on this list is pancakes, pop tarts, and maybe one more i forgot lol, ive never met a sane American whos touched one of the more vile items on thjs list (canned whole chicken)
we've had a lot of these here in south africa due to watching americans eat it on TV. we always regret it. lol.
Load More Replies... For people calling out the "America bashing" on BP. I love these posts. I don't think the inability to take a step back and laugh at the country as a whole (or even regionally) is a healthy way to go about life. Overblown "patriotism" or the whole "America is the best" concept doesn't make you cool or edgy, it just furthers the stereotype that Americans are stupid and self obsessed. Personally, these types of posts are a humorous little escape from the current state of the country. Also, of all the posts to complain about, why are you choosing to complain about the one based on food? SMH.
I loved reading this topic, and it doesn't irk me personally, but I think what gets some people, maybe, judging by the comments, is that BP frequently celebrates this country or that country, but when it comes to bashing what's bad about a country, it always seems to be The US. While this isn't really always true (I've seen other countries get bashed), it's not completely untrue either (since, yeah, it's usually the US).
Load More Replies... Good root beer is amazing but I grew up on it. Good root beer float (root beer + vanilla ice cream) is amazing. But to me Vegamite is foul while Aussies love it. It's what you're used to.
Load More Replies... I would like to downvote this entire post. I'm bloody fed up with US bashing.
It would be far more effective to not comment altogether. if we all stopped commenting and completely ignored these lists then Bored Panda would get the message far more quickly. They rely on comments and clicks to sell the advertising. The problem is that it generates a LOT of attention and comments normally and it doesn't matter very much from the advertising point of view if they're all condemning the article. Even my writing this comment adds to it all.
Load More Replies... Why does bored panda continue to call out Americans on different subjects? I’m British and there are some gross foods eaten in our country.
yes, you do have haggis and blood pudding, but that's the scots.
Load More Replies... From an European point of view, none of the American food is considered as food.
what the f**k is your guys problem with Americans? I get that some of our stuff is weird to other people but you dont see entire articles dedicated to dunking on other nationalities like the Chinese or Brazilians or anyone else!
And let’s not forget the Chinese have a festival where they eat DOGS!!!! You can watch the whole process on YouTube if you can stomach it.
Load More Replies... American colon cancer survivor here. Pretty sure the food here caused my cancer. 5 years in remission. Just had my 5th reconstructive abdominal surgery (I'm literally stuck in bed on my back healing rn) Planning to move out of the US asap. I'd like to survive to old age thanks. Eff the FDA.
try france. They smoke and don't get as much cancer.
Load More Replies... I’m American, and I agree with this list, except for 32, 33, and whatever number ranch was. There’s too much c**p in our food that shouldn’t be there in the first place, and nearly everything has added sugar. This is a decent chunk why the majority of the population is overweight.
A lot of this stuff is a matter of taste. The main exception is the savoury jello
No one is saying that no-one likes them. It's just the rest of the world is disbelieving that ANYONE likes them. But we all like things that we grew up with no matter how terrible. People in the US do seem to like sweet things more than most, or at least their palates have been normalised to more sugar/sweetness.
Load More Replies... The issue with lists like these is that they ignore the deeper sociopolitical factors that contribute to the existence and creation of these foods; namely poverty and ignorance. It’s sad to make fun of these foods while making sweeping generalizations about Americans, ignoring that a lot of these are eaten out of necessity, accessibility, and lack of education—factors that are out of many people’s control. High quality foods exist throughout America, especially in big cities where you can get pretty much any kind of food from any cuisine around the world.
Let’s not also forget some people live in food deserts and fresh produce for a family of four is wildly expensive with inflation.
Load More Replies... The straw man is strong in this one. Most Americans think this stuff is trash too, with a few exceptions that require cultural context. Stop conflating novelties, generic knockoffs, carnival confections and cheap c**p foisted upon Americans with stuff we actually want or value.
Good grief... again. Some American stuff is gross. This just in- there is gross stuff from around the world! Also, there is lost of amazing food in the US just as there is in... Every. Country. On. Earth. Most of us American don't like most of the stuff on this list. Some of this items are just not true, some are extremely uncommon while others are subjective. My wife loves biscuits and gravy while I don't care for it. Why not have this list for I dunno, every country on earth. FFS BP...
I wouldn't exactly call this an interview with "the writer", unless you're using buzzfeed standards (writer is someone who can copy and paste). Also, you've published this same article dozens of times - why again?
I think there is really just one post of things non-Americans think are gross and they just rearrange the order
And to think I had the impression that BP was done with US bashing posts. Oh well.
Most people in the US are great. But then SOME people say "The US is number one! We are the greatest!" and we have had US tv show propaganda, all the way from the black and white Lone Ranger telling us how great the US is. So occasionally we push back.
Load More Replies... I think we're picking on the Yanks too much! In the name of fairness we should make a list like this for every country. Every country has / does c**p that other countries don't like. Except the Swiss.
Yeah, most of us don’t eat this stuff either. Except biscuits & gravy, I love biscuits & gravy. But look, every country has foods that foreigners think are gross.
Is it funny that biscuits and gravy are great but poutine isn't? It's almost the same thing, gravy on a carb, but instead of biscuits it's fries.
Load More Replies... It was a trip to Germany that I discovered this myself. Thank goodness for Aldi!
While I agree many "American foods" are "nasty", I can say the same of foods I've had on other continents. And that counts Europe. Examples just from Europe: Nutella; liverwurst; any blood soup; eels (jellied or otherwise). (Examples from USA: orange-colored anything that isn't in the produce section; some hate peanut butter; breakfast cereals that are designed to create a market for insulin). From outside my native US, also poutine (sorry, Quebec, but no); and queen ants. ( I did try those. Oh. My. No.) The idea, however, that the US is the only center of c**p food is silly. Plenty of high-fat/sugar/etc. all around, and often as "snacks". So, please, relax and stop the judging.
I can't understand why Americans take perfectly good food and absolutely ruin it for example cheese, chocolate, coffee, bread and meat to name a few
Rens, I've never cooked for you. I can assure you that I serve good cheese, chocolate coffee and bread. You would be happy with what I served you. You are making sweeping generalizations. I'm Greek American and while I love Greek food, in Greece they put instant coffee and sugar on cold water, stir it up and call it a frappe... and people love it while to me it tastes like bad instant coffee from the 1960s! But I would never try to pin "disgusting coffee" on the Greeks... because they also have amazing coffee just like we have amazing, cheese, chocolate, bread, etc.
Load More Replies... I think towards the end it's more of "you haven't had the right one". Like the sweet tea. Who f*****g judges all sweet tea from McDonald's??? Someone who doesn't understand sweet tea I'd say.
A message to BP from America... Eh hem. Go f*** yourselves. That will be all. Thank you.
I have noticed that in American recipes for savoury dishes, there is sugar in EVERYTHING! A tiny pinch a tomato dish to cut through the acidity, sure. But 4 tablespoons in a curry? (legit recipe I made a couple of weeks ago from the Food Network site) WHY!?! NO!
Bookmarking Rannveig Ess's (don't / care) Reply: Yes, Andrew...wouldn't that be interesting? I'd love to hear what everyone ELSE in the world also finds disguting in their countries. Wouldn't it be great if this was just put out there as a topic for everyone to contribute to, instead of the usual US bashing? There are entire YT sites showing people from other countries eating the foods from other countries and the wild disgust of it. But nooooo. BP has to cut and paste it about food now? How about : Shirako in Japan. Dried pig blood tofu in China. Kangaroo in Australia. Tuna eyeballs in Japan. Balut, developing duck embryo boiled in its shell, in the Philippines. Fried tarantulas in Cambodia.White ant eggs soup in Laos. Jellied moose nose in Canada. Boshintang in Korea.Gummy salmiak candy flavored with ammonium chloride in Finland (lived there..this stuff is horrible) Mimolette cheese in France that has cheese mites on it. How about Goose Blood Soup (Juka) from Lithuania? but no ... it's Americans.
These things are available, but no one I know eats them. I cook every single day. Make my own sauces. Make my own stocks. Of course I'm an American, so I must eat disgusting things because I simply have no class.
Didn't see chipped beef on toast on the list. Grew up watching my parents eat that. Nicknamed it sh!t on a shingle.
The only thing I’ve had on this list is pancakes. I know of less than half of them. These aren’t staples of American food anymore than Haggis is if the UK. TBH, as someone who’s 1/2 Dutch & 1/2 American, having lived in both places, I’m equally as appalled by both nations’ unique dishes. Having lived in Hawai’i for the better part of 30 years, I’m even more grossed out by some of the traditional food here no matter how much o respect it’s history.
Haggis is definitely not UK, that is Scottish. A considerable amount of traditional food came about because of people being poor.
Load More Replies... you can buy canned creamed possum in gravy in the US... MEGA-REVOLTING!!! canned-pos...b149ef.jpg
You can also buy jelly belly jelly beans that taste like skunk - again a gag gift.
Load More Replies... I lived in the USA for a year as an exchange student. Some things I could not stomach: American chocolate. Ice cream. Yoghurt. Frosted cakes. Bread. Most fast food places. Some things I loved: donuts, bagels (a good alternative to bread!), Chai tea (perhaps it was a fad in those years...), diner food, and lots of regional New Mexican cuisine.
I'm really glad I have low standards. I love most of this stuff ... though, I don't know, maybe it's because I haven't lived in the US for over 20 years and most of it has changed? Or maybe it's because I grew up poor, and we didn't always have a lot of food, or a lot of choice, so we learned to like what we got. Either way, I think I'd much rather have low standards and be happy with what I eat.
as an American I agree with most of these, except biscuits and gravy, which is amazing when made well, with lots of pepper and butter, and the sweet potatoes with marshmallows has to have pecans on top. Or no marshmallows and just pecans. Pancakes with just butter are fine
You have the marshmallows and sweet potatoes, as part of the meal, not as a dessert?
Load More Replies... you can buy cooked canned possum in the US.... mega-revolting!!!! canned-pos...29abcb.jpg
