If you were born and raised in the US, you can probably understand that some of our standard fare — whether it's meals, snacks, or drinks — might be less-than-appealing to those abroad. So I combed the BuzzFeed Community and Reddit for this list of the iconic "American" foods that non-Americans simply can't get behind. Fair warning: things could get heated here. 🔥
1."That awful, orange, plasticky American cheese. I lived in North America for a year and missed good British cheddar so much!"
2."Hershey's chocolate. I seriously thought it was rotten when I tried one. Hand to my heart, I wouldn't eat another one even if it was free. How that company makes a profit, I will never understand."
3."Pineapple on pizza. It shouldn't be a topping people can order. It's straight up nasty."
4."As a Canadian, I am disgusted by American soda. You can taste the corn syrup in every sip. All of my American friends drink Mexican Coke or that 'throwback' pop that contains sugar instead of corn syrup."
5."That fake cheese that comes in a tube or even worse, aerosol cheese. It makes me gag just thinking about it."
6."For me, it's not so much a particular food, but rather the portion sizes. I'm Australian and I was raised to eat everything on my plate. I brought that mentality to the U.S, and I put on 5kg in over a month. The portion sizes are obscene. I could hardly finish a meal there without feeling ill from eating to much."
7."American taco night — you know, tacos with the hard shell, cheese 'sauce,' ground beef with 'taco seasoning,' heaps of sour cream, and then instead of using real salsa, just flavorless diced tomatoes. It's a sad, sad interpretation of real Mexican tacos."
8."Root beer. It tastes like the mouthwash they use at the dentist. I can't understand how anyone enjoys drinking it!"
9."Twinkies. Oh my... I've never tasted anything more disgusting than a Twinkie. It’s like a sloppy cake with moisturizer cream on the inside. I think eating one might actually make me sick."
10."Sweet cinnamon buns. I think it's quite disturbing that Americans put that weird frosting-type stuff on top of cinnamon rolls. I'm from Sweden and we have a similar bun called kanelbullar, but here we only ever put egg wash and pearl sugar on top before baking it."
11."Deep dish pizza. This creation is not pizza. It is disrespectful to the Italian culture, especially Neapolitans. Deep-dish completely ruins what pizza is meant to be."
12."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..."
13."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."
14."Instant ramen — those packaged, dried noodles are awful in comparison to the art that is ramen cuisine. In Japan, ramen is all about the proper balance of flavors, senses, and ingredients. It's a form of art whereas instant ramen is just gross."
15."Cherry-flavored anything. Have you tasted cherries? They tasted nothing like that icky flavoring!"
16."Casseroles made with 'cream of' anything soup. I'm looking at you, green bean casserole, tuna casserole, and mushroom casserole. I've tried those Campbells soups and the idea of using them as an ingredient in a meal makes me shudder. There's so much sodium."
17."Mountain Dew. I tasted this soda for the first time a few months ago because we don't have it in my home country, Sweden. I simply couldn't believe how sweet it tasted. It was as if someone melted sugar and put it in a can."
18."Ranch dressing. It's so overpowering. Why don't Americans want to actually taste the salad instead of just the dressing?"
19."Pumpkin spice everything when fall comes around. I'm OK with pumpkin pie. I've learned to like it. But pumpkin-flavored things I will never accept include pumpkin spice coffee, ice cream, pancakes, doughnuts, smoothies, and more."
20."New York City street hotdogs. I was so looking forward to eating one on my trip. But when I finally got one it was tiny and it actually dissolved in my mouth after one chew. Plus, the bread tasted very sweet. Overall, it was a huge disappointment."
21."Sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top. This vegetable is supposed to be savory. Just WHY?"
22."Cincinnati chili. Please, please keep your spaghetti noodles out of my chili."
23."Fluff, that yucky marshmallow spread. You Americans find ways to add extra sugar to everything. Even toast."
24."Flavored hummus. In America, hummus has become this vegan, low-carb, health food for people to dip vegetables in. But that's not how hummus is meant to be. Where I'm from, it's a glorious, greasy dish made in heaven with a ton of tahini and olive oil, and it's topped in beef, an egg, or cooked beans, alongside falafel and an infinite supply of pita bread."
25."Circus peanuts. They're so weird. Why did anyone decide to shape these weird treats like peanuts when in reality they taste like spoiled bananas?"
26."White Castle burgers. I had one bite and that was enough for me. It was oily meat that murdered my taste buds and left a fast-like aftertaste. Yet Americans eat [sic] love burgers so much they even made a film about them."
27."Pop tarts. They taste like flavored cardboard. They're horrible. They are criminally dry with little taste and awful fake fruit filling."
Is there an "American" food you find totally gross? Tell me in the comments below.
