American Reacts to US vs UK McDonald's

In this video I react to US vs UK McDonald's. I expected the ingredients and the sizes to be a little different, but I was shocked at just how different they are.
Thanks for watching. If you enjoyed this reaction please give this video a thumbs up, share your thoughts in the comments and click the subscribe button to follow my journey to learn about my British and Irish ancestry.
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[@mattsmith5421]

You might want to see foods that are legal in the US but banned in Europe

[@katydaniels508]

I was just thinking this. Def worth checking out the different food standards and laws

[@more-reasons6655]

It's weird how out of all banned foods between the countries the US has banned kinder surprises

[@altair5240]

@@more-reasons6655 There's also an ingredient in Irn Bru that's banned in the US, not that it tastes the same in Scotland anymore either since the sugar tax.

[@234cheech]

for a good reason thare banned cos thare not good for humans and the enviroment as a whole

[@mrsprivate1678]

@@more-reasons6655 that’s because they thought Americans would try to eat the plastic inside and choke . They have the ones without the toy in the centre

[@katydaniels508]

Don’t apologise for ranting, it is perfectly justified!

[@AstraRune]

I believe the Uk has actually banned battery chicken farming. Barn chickens are still a thing (chickens who are kept inside their whole lives), but the British public really only go for proper free range eggs. This means that Barn farmed chicken eggs are usually used in pre-made products such as store cakes or anything that has eggs as an ingredient.

[@maxwhite8470]

Battery is banned but there are still cage farms

[@okelydokely9984]

Re-VOLTing 'I believe the UK has actually banned *battery* chicken farming' Charge it to my account. Fed on 'trickle feed'. OK that's enough. Had En Oeuf?

[@chuck1804]

One major difference in the UK vs US is that Free Range is comparatively affordable vs eggs from caged hens. In the US you might pay $3 for a dozen "caged" eggs, or up to $7 for "cage-free" depending on location.

[@jackwhitbread4583]

​@@chuck1804free range eggs in the UK cost way less than even your caged ones. Your food prices are incredibly overpriced

[@chuck1804]

@@jackwhitbread4583 I concur.

[@helena188]

What I find quite wild is how different the marketing is for the UK and US. Over here in the UK it is like we use 100% britsh/irish beef, 100% chicken breast, free range egg, we reuse our oil in our vans to prevent pollution, we use recyclable packaging etc etc compared to the US where it is look at all this food for this low price. It is really interesting! (Well I find it interesting 😂😂)

[@jimwest7107]

Provided you stick to the burgers and fries (maybe a diet coke) it's a fairly healthy meal in the UK. Protein and Carbs.

[@bam-skater]

Not actually true. There's another YT'er did a like-for-like comparison for 'normal' weekly household shopping(bread, eggs, milk, chicken, etc) and the US was significantly more expensive

[@helena188]

@@bam-skater in terms of household shopping absolutely the US is more expensive, especially in areas like Florida where a lot of food is imported from abroad and the rest of the US. But this is comparing marketing techniques not the price of fast food. I have no idea what the difference in price is between the UK and the US but marketing techniques are very different.

[@RandomShart]

@@bam-skater I don't know about groceries but I always find it to be very cheap in the USA to eat out. People I know in the USA seem to eat out all the time, whereas I couldn't afford to do that in the UK. Their portions are also enormous and it's very common to take food home, which I assume makes it even cheaper comparatively vs UK .

[@paulsprouse7239]

Me to mate

[@rachelmiller764]

I lived in the states for several years, I never understood the hershey chocolate obsession, it's awful! My US friends tried UK chocolate and thought it was amazing

[@pcppbadminton]

I'd always heard about the vomit taste of US chocolate but I thought it was a bit of a myth or exaggeration because I hadn't tried it for myself. Then a guy at work brought in some sweets from the Philippines. I immediately recognised the US style chocolate and it was just as horrible as everyone outside the US says it is.

[@pkf4124]

A guy at my work brought some Hershey’s in from a trip to the States. They eventually went in the bin or out the window where the Squirrels, who normally eat anything we put out left the Hersheys bars

[@nickrog6759]

The VOMIT flavor is not Sour Milk like a lot of pepole think it is , it is in reality "Butyric acid." Butyric acid comes from the milk fats in the chocolate. In a process called lipolysis, the fatty acids in the milk decompose, resulting in a rancid, or "goaty" taste. Hershey's purposefully puts their chocolate through controlled lipolysis, giving it that unique VOMIT flavor . Mmmmm Yum ! . Around 65% of US consumers can't taste THAT flavor . Plus it also heightens the melting temperature, increases shelf life & hides the whitening & discoloration so you can't tell if it has gone off or not .

[@IntergalacticSpaceKitten]

As an American, I had a UK friend who sent me some UK money. I LOVE how you have a see-through plastic window on your bills and I love the coins that have a different coin in the middle of it. It's so cool to me. We need to adopt some of that plastic money design too because we always accidentally wash paper bills in our pockets and it gets ruined!

[@matty7758]

@@IntergalacticSpaceKitten that's an Australian invention. They've had it for years, it probably only five or six years old in thr UK

[@debraparker4846]

Wow,I never knew fries could have more than three ingredients,I find it all fascinating,being a welsh/brit

[@smiley9872]

right and why put dextrose in fries, is it to make folk addicted to the food.

[@ORDEROFTHEKNIGHTSTEMPLAR13]

Have a look what oil they use in the US it's full of carceinogens

[@pantherinae_art]

Fellow Brit, and all those extra ingredients scare me! Fast food isn't a regular thing for most of us, it's a treat, but I'd be horrified to discover my veggie and vegan friends couldn't even eat the fries in McDonald's?! I've got so many allergies and sensitivities, I don't think I could eat anything in the US with all this extra crap snuck in! I'd be hospitalised and in debt within a week 😂

[@jimwald5299]

@@smiley9872 dextrose is literally just glucose. It occurs naturally in pretty much everything. It's already inside the potato because it is the sugar that both our and plant cells burn to stay alive. It's put on the fries to caramelise and make the colour nice, they use it on McDonald's fries in the UK at some times of the year too. Not a big deal, not even a deal at all.

[@den2k885]

Well, you can ad some black pepper, it's great

[@michael_177]

a Gherkin is what we call a pickle! It was just referring to the pickles in the burger 😁 - Oh and mcdonalds in the UK ONLY uses free range eggs. I dont think they're actually allowed to use non-free-range egg products in UK McDonalds. Also i think we pronounce 'rapeseed oil' very differently 😮 (edit: When i saw we pronounce rapeseed differently, im NOT saying we dont say "rape" - that's quite literally what I AM saying., some of these comment replies are not making any sense, go get your morning coffee, folks)

[@Heggie42]

I'm not admitting to how long it took me to understand that the character Dill Pickles in Rugrats was a joke... Also as a kid fields of rape had me freaked out. Cos I was totally not thinking of those yellow flowers being a seed oil crop.

[@paulmidsussex3409]

No a pickle is what we call a Gherkin. A pickle is in the UK is a condiment made of things that have been pickled.

[@michael_177]

ackshually

[@rozzyosbourne196]

A gherkin is a pickled baby cucumber, not to be confused with it's great military fighting cousin, the Ghurka, mistake them at your peril.

[@rozzyosbourne196]

@@paulmidsussex3409 yup, the most common in the UK must be pickled onions. Pickled = left to soak in vinegar for a long time.

[@imfoxheim]

Im from Norway, and Ive been to both the UK and the US. The UK fast food never made me feel bad, however the US fast food actually turned my poop yellow and it just flew out of me. The whole stay I had stomach issues xD The sizes were also shocking :o

[@jodiescrivener8005]

Yup in America there's this thing called shaved ice. It's essentially a non mixed more icy slush puppy, so everyone was excited to try it. Everyone got violently ill and that's when we realised something that should have the exact same ingredients is vastly diffrent.

[@tomsmith6513]

yellow poop!!! What food is that? Diarrhea food?

[@jillybrooke29]

Pure oily fat

[@madyottoyotto3055]

@@jodiescrivener8005 your ruling out bad vendors bit easy the flavouring was probably off

[@madyottoyotto3055]

Yup we made the MIGHTY mistake of ordering TWO MEDIUM PIZZAS NOW in the UK there is definitely no need for two tables for this to happen One would have been enough for our family of four adults Horrified at this until we made cool-aid according to the instructions My mum seen how much sugar was about to be added and near had a heart attack FFS

[@adamarcher3089]

13:16 a gherkin is what you would call a dill pickle (i was a manager for a McDonalds in the UK). 15:41 rapeseed oil comes from a varity of brassica which is what most yellow feilds in england are growing. 19:40 no to chick-filet 20:54 ranch dressing isn't a thing in the UK 23:51 for an american biscuit in UK we would probably link the taste to a cheese scone.

[@Gr0nal]

Fuckin thank you, no one was mentioning savoury scones. They exist.

[@MarcLucksch]

I would to see chick-filet try to enter the UK market and trying to have a fight with Nandos.. it would be hilarious.

[@Iris_Astraea]

I presume our alternative for ranch is salad cream

[@carausias]

'Dill pickle' is just a shortening of 'Gherkins in a dill pickle'. Gherkins are just baby cucumbers pickled in vinegar flavoured with dill.

[@LMSNETWORKLTD]

Theres a chick filet in our city but unfortunatly its a knock off :/

[@Wally-H]

I am literally shocked by those US fries. UK MacDonalds fries are delicious - America needs to wise up over those for health reasons, as you rightly said.

[@clinging54321]

Would be interesting to know how much the manufacturers of the extra ingredients give to US politicians?

[@MrPaultopp]

McDonald’s ……. The culling machine

[@jamjim3815]

Only 1 ingredient is questionable in their fries. We have some questionable ingredients in our burger just like theirs.

[@welshwonkycam]

A lot of the extra ingredients are colourings.

[@jerry2357]

Gherkins are small vegetables like cucumbers, typically served pickled. EDIT: Ranch is not a thing in the UK.

[@xxWilky]

It is at subway

[@ekatep6362]

They're pickles in US

[@spitz5183]

Ranch does exist in the UK, just not common.

[@xx_predalien_xx4217]

@@spitz5183 we normally use mayo not ranch

[@spitz5183]

@@xx_predalien_xx4217 Which is why I said it isn't common. Allow me to repeat myself. Ranch exists in the UK, but it's not a common condiment.

[@moniqueb8545]

Even as someone who lives in the UK I try not to eat at McDonald's too often because we recognise that it's not very healthy. The US ingredients lists are downright scary in comparison though.

[@eleanorcooke7136]

Living in the UK, I just don't go to Macdonalds. Only if i have friends going there, but I'll just get a drink. Idk why but with all the horror stories, true or not, that I was told as a kid, I just don't trust any of their food.

[@felicitywoodruffe4087]

I thought our McDonald's was unhealthy but a treat once in a while but lord almighty this shocked the breath out of me I wouldn't want to eat that muck ,sorry

[@DomainRider]

I'm lucky - for some reason I can't properly digest UK McDonalds fries or burgers. They just sit like a lump in my stomach for hours. They claim it's 'prime beef' with no additives - I have no idea how they turn it into that grey chewy burger.

[@origamipig]

The gherkin is a pickle, like the dill pickle. British chippies offer pickled eggs, onions and wallies which are gherkins. 😊

[@errnee]

sounds like a chippy down south. up north we have non of them things.

[@jonsouth1545]

@@errnee I know plenty of chippy's up North that do

[@origamipig]

@@errnee yeah I’m from Margate south east coast. I remember being shocked when I lived in Doncaster that they served gravy with chips, yuk lol 😂

[@iambenjaminwild]

Gherkin is Gherkin, everyone else is just picked 'item'

[@geoffreycodnett6570]

@iambenjaminwild Yep, gherkin is a variety of cucumber pickled in malt vinegar. A lot of chip shop "vinegar" is actually " non brewed condiment!". Chemically made acetic acid with caramel, flavouring and colour added. Real stuff available from supermarket.

[@corringhamdepot4434]

American biscuits are a form of bread made with baking powder. Probably part of US culture because yeast was not always readily available. While in the UK yeast was always available from your local baker or brewer. So our equivalent of scones is a sweet "cake", rather than a savoury biscuit. In the UK there was a consumer backlash against battery hen egg production, so a large part of the UK egg market is in Barn Eggs, or Free Range Eggs.

[@madyottoyotto3055]

Very good info only they have never been short of yeast as when they used to make bread if they had no yeast they would extract it out of the air Yeast is a part of the atmosphere in a losses speaking kind of way Some bakers still use this method instead of buying inactive or active yeast

[@rozzyosbourne196]

"Biscuit" means 'twice baked', so UK biscuits are not cake/doughy textured they are more crisp.

[@lauram5943]

Cheese scones though!

[@grandmawandersoff]

@@lauram5943scones are NOT biscuits!

[@shirleyswaine4701]

Scones in the UK are made with baking powder, not yeast.

[@lewiswernham6791]

An added bonus for UK Maccies, all that oil used for frying gets taken away and converted to bio-diesel for their delivery trucks.

[@DatDirtyDog]

In the UK free range eggs is the norm. Even Wetherspoons (a pub chain notorious for cheap food) uses free range eggs. If a place was found to be using non free range eggs the Uk public would boycott it till it changes.

[@JesterEric]

Depends how you define free range. It often just means slightly bigger cages. At the moment they can't be outside due to bird flu

[@ruthbashford3176]

@@JesterEric I don't believe that. Even if chickens are not outside they can be in a barn

[@DatDirtyDog]

@@JesterEric Yes thats true and it's sad to read that they think the bird flu may never go away now but their are ways to keep them free range in them conditions. If bird flu is perminant then it's worth the investment to gazeeboverse the outside areas with clear sheeting so wild bird droppings cant enter the area and use netting around the sides so you can keep the sun and breeze while minimising risk of exposure. The only reason that hasn't been done yet is keeping them inside for a couple of months was cheaper.

[@phillallen01]

Really have a look in Tesco's and sainsbury then tell me free range is the norm

[@georgebarnes8163]

@@ruthbashford3176 Barn Eggs are not free Range with Barn eggs making up the smallest percentage of egg sales in the UK

[@domramsey]

I work in the food industry in the UK, and you're spot on with most of your observations. However, all those additives in the US versions are there for one purpose: Profits. They tend to fall into 2 categories; flavour enhancers (meaning they can use cheaper alternatives for the main ingredients), and preservatives (meaning longer shelf life, meaning products can be manufactured in bulk more cheaply). We have more food regulations here in the UK (mainly thanks to the EU), but it's also just local customs. If McD started putting all that crap in UK products there would be a backlash, even it if were legal. And we tend to notice when the recipes of our favourite products change.

[@NickBR57]

I think they are there so if you leave the fries under your car seat for 5 years they still look the same. Mainly preservatives - and that of course generates profit.

[@FunniesRS]

@@NickBR57 but you have to take into account the fact that even insects and germs and fungi refuse to eat that food that's why it stays looking so preserved... if even the germs and fungi don't want it... how bad is it..

[@NickBR57]

@@FunniesRS I wish I could 🤣, but I'm afraid it's too true...

[@mrfrenzy.]

Unfortunately the UK has already started to reduce food regulations after brexit. For starters Titanium Dioxide is allowed in UK but not EU. After December 2023 UK will scrap most EU food laws and only reimplement those that are "necessary" as new UK laws. It will be interesting to watch...

[@Tymbus]

I imagine there are cultural differences in taste

[@littlebudd]

If the government in the US were responsible for paying for healthcare like in the UK maybe they would have more interest in public health.

[@DewdewDC]

In the UK, many people stopped going to fast food places because they were seen as so unhealthy. It took a lot of change and a lot of marketing to encourage people back. Obviously, there are still some in the UK who would never eat fast food, but on the whole, most people think the occasional meal is not so bad.

[@keithdenton8386]

I have been to MCds once in the UK and once in the states. Both times I disgusted. Never again. How people eat that shit is beyond me.

[@Wally-H]

Introducing the salad option as an alternative to fries helped. I like the Salad and often have it myself.

[@Natalie-qu2ue]

A lot of the ingredients the US are banned in the UK.

[@lindykeddie3119]

In Australia, they have introduced fruit sachets(real fruit) for children as well as bottles of water and salads for adults

[@Wally-H]

@@lindykeddie3119 Yup, same in the UK and it made a big difference. Anyone can order one of those little fruit bags as an extra if they want.

[@TheShoKuda]

The additional ingredients in US fries are the answer to your question 'Why am I craving fries?'

[@joshuachalkley6883]

I’ve gotta say I do also crave McDonald’s fries in the U.K. lol, don’t know why but they’re just hot, crunchy, salty little slices of wonder 🤤😂

[@mattc3581]

The US put dextrose in the fries?!? They literally put sugar in fries? WTF?

[@armchairgeneralissimo]

Just basic biology/chemistry at play. When you have high blood sugar from say consuming a sugar/corn syrup loaded soda your cells will start leaking sodium. This will lower your sodium levels and make you crave salt, fries have lots of salt on them so that's what you will crave. Once you've had some fries you're going to want to wash them down with you guessed it that sugary soda and thus the cycle goes on.

[@irenemorley75]

@@joshuachalkley6883 And cooked in sunflower oil🤭🪣

[@JrKengu]

@@joshuachalkley6883 MSG

[@musicloverlondon6070]

I remember when Macdonalds first arrived in the UK and they had something called 'rootbeer'. I was curious enough to try it but tbh it tasted like watered down cough medicine. I never ordered it again and noticed that it didn't stay on the menu for very long so I imagine it can't have sold very well. I don't hear much about it from US commentators so possibly it's not popular there either but it might be a Marmite-type product? 😊 Edit: The ingredients in the US fries! You are right to be annoyed. That's corporate irresponsibility towards its own consumers. 😲🤨

[@PaulBednall]

Rootbeer tastes like mouthwash at the dentist

[@jevward5428]

I'm from U.K. I like Root Beer. The best Root Beer is Stewarts in a bottle from Cracker Barrel sadly I have to go to the U.S. for Cracker Barrel the best place to eat

[@MostlyPennyCat]

Yes! Rootbeer tastes like how the dentist smells 😂🤢

[@pepsicheng7758]

I love rootbeer! (And I live in the UK)

[@surfaceten510n]

I remember when McDonalds came to the UK Berger vans were everywhere on Friday and Saturday nights after the clubs shut, McDonalds insisted that they would not open restraurants if the vans continued trading in the town centres. nice bit of blackmail / arm twisting. it was the seventies and local council members needed nice cars and villas in Spain.

[@tatiana4050]

The wraps in UK also give you option for grilled chicken instead of breaded.

[@Weeflowerofscotland]

I’m British ( Scottish) , I don’t eat McDonald’s much but when myself in my family were in the states we were blown away by the sheer size of portion sizes in all foods over there! We do have quarter pounder with cheese over here

[@ColinWatters]

In the US you can get waffles and syrup with your full English breakfast :-)

[@egg_rl7118]

Yo where abouts r u from in Scotland I’m a Glaswegian

[@gugumthembu7180]

That was my experience when I went there, it blew me away. I'm South African🇿🇦

[@davidmacgregor5193]

I'm also a Scot, but I've lived in Yorkshire since 1966. I haven't eaten a McDonalds since 1986, it's just not my kind of food. I don't eat Burger King or KFC either.

[@robinhooduk8255]

any food item that small and thin will not degrade over time, they will dry out long before any mold will form so you will get no degradation with a french fry. a burger is a different story, the burger bun has so many preservatives that it too will dry out before any mold or breakdown happens.

[@sugarandchaos]

I think the reason that the ingredient lists differ so wildly is that in the UK there has been a big push to try to remove unnecessary additives and preservatives from foods. Vast swathes of chemicals and additives have been made illegal to use, so Maccy D's has had to step up its game to comply. Unfortunately, America doesn't appear to have such stringent regulations with regards to the food industry, probably because it makes a few folk a lot of money. I hope that things will improve for you guys in the future.

[@timothyreel716]

The government is behind all the crap in our food, as a means of control. More regs on what the government does would be the answer.

[@CriticalError8]

In the UK we have quarter pounder with cheese, iced Frappe, and we used to have the strawberry Sundays years ago but it's been replaced by Mcflurrys. We also have doughnuts and hot cookies. No ranch but we can buy it in the supermarket. I believe the differences in ingredients have come about because we have quite strict laws around additives to food. So because McDonald's is American, I'm guessing all the food has been adapted in line with our food legislation.

[@anachyinuk]

We also have chicken selects, which pretty much are the chicken tenders, just with a different name. And as you said, no ranch. Like Ranch Doritos are Cool Original in the UK I believe.

[@fordcorsair]

Sundays???🤣🤣🤣

[@MGX93dot]

mcdonalds dont do hot cookies. even if you ask theyre not supposed to do it and it is not advertised that way

[@jorvikaengelskvinna7157]

@@fordcorsair She meant sundaes :)

[@fordcorsair]

@@jorvikaengelskvinna7157 🤣🤣🤣

[@billybudd5854]

It's not only fast food. Whenever we go on holiday to the US (from the UK) we tend to dine in fairly decent restaurants - probably the bottom end of our choice would be somewhere like a Red Lobster or Olive Garden. The sad part is that I always look forward to eating out over there but somehow just don't enjoy the meals as much as I should. There's something about the taste of the food that diminishes my appetite. Sometimes I have quite a bad stomach afterwards. Members of my family laugh at me but I'm convinced it's the preservatives and other ingredients in US food that is the problem.

[@stevieinselby]

I had a friend who went to the US for a couple of weeks and when he came back to the UK he just wanted to eat lettuce and fresh fruit and vegetables for days...

[@SamanthaLove78]

About a decade ago I spent a summer working at the burger factory that supplies all of the UK McD's. I was a bit apprehensive, because I did like the occasional happy meal, and didn't want to be put off... but I was so pleasantly surprised. The quality and hygiene was spotless and each batch of burgers can be traced back to the individual cow they came from. And all the beef is from the UK or Ireland (or it was at the time - can't say about now). And it's all beef. Nothing else added. Which is funny because McDs always gets slated for being junk over here.

[@ballagh]

Still farm, but back in the mid 90’s we sold beef cattle to Foyle meats. They had a quality assurance scheme we took part in and the only company that asked for declaration of no feed based antibiotic use in the animal feed was McDonald’s. The schemes have been joined up into Farm Quality Assurance here in Northern Ireland, which qualifies as little red tractor in GB so I don’t get asked for individual buyer requirements any more but it struck me as odd at the time. Apparently they were big buyers of flank.

[@grunions9648]

We don't allow the infamous "pink sludge" anymore luckily (I think since the 90s?) - that was and is pretty disgusting stuff. I actually learned about that in secondary school so I think there was massive exposure at the time about McD's ingredients and processes.

[@estherjames2791]

But when you have fries that don't degrade over a few weeks what kind of potato is that?

[@beeurd]

​@@estherjames2791 It's the cooking that preserves it. If you leave McDs fries out they will start to shrivel up within an hour or so. If you leave them long enough they'll just dry out. You can easily replicate this with home made fries and get the same result.

[@irenemorley75]

When anything is cooked in sunflower oil........ IT BECOMES JUNK FOOD.🤭🪣

[@brightsparky7657]

Something else I noticed is that foods in the US are a lot sweeter than their UK/European counterparts. The high-fructose corn syrup in particular is common in the US where is isn’t on the other side of the Atlantic so we use other crops. You’ll find these other ingredients such as beef flavouring are added to make them taste better and also covers up the poorer quality ingredients.

[@richardhockey8442]

look up the stats for the amount of sugar in bread in the US and UK

[@rossmackay-williams4583]

Thats what made me mad about the sugar tax over here in the UK.....its the corn syrup that is the problem. Corn Syrup switches off an enzyme in the liver that tells the brain it is full and no more calories needed

[@fix0the0spade]

@@rossmackay-williams4583 High sugar content in everything is still a problem, still causes Insulin resistance and weight gain. HFCS being even worse doesn't mean 10g of normal sugar per 100g of food/drink isn't still really bad for you.

[@Number6_]

Sugar is in everything in the us. It comes back to big pharma.

[@jonathanwetherell3609]

Beef fat fried chips/French Fries are very tasty but very expensive. An artificial flavour mimics this taste. In the UK the colour is down to the natural sugars in the potatoe. They are grown for the correct level and checked in quality control. Bit more expensive.

[@stevieinselby]

There are a few reasons why it's more profitable to pump the burgers full of crap than to use natural ingredients: - genuine ingredients can be more expensive, especially if they need to be transported because they can't be grown/reared locally - artificial ingredients can include more preservatives, meaning that the product has a longer shelf life - the American palette is so habituated to everything being drowned in salt and sugar that a lot of people think that any food without that is bland because their taste buds have completely atrophied, a lot of the crap makes them addictive.

[@smockboy]

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Going into McDonald's and ordering a salad is the fast food equivalent of visiting a brothel and paying for a hug.

[@margueritahancock5472]

Good answer lol

[@enkisdaughter4795]

Whilst visiting the USA, on the way to the airport (home journey) I’ve had a McDonalds salad, with a piece of grilled chicken and some fries, as I have cœliac disease; the staff were really helpful.

[@sandrapaterson8678]

🤣🤣🤣

[@MKR5210]

What's buying a mega size extra cheese burger and a bushel of fries with a bucket of diet coke the equivalent of 😁

[@Paul_the_Bookworm]

@@MKR5210 an orgy

[@mikewilding3199]

Not just Macdonald 's American chocolate and candy companies lobbied and succeeded in preventing large scale none US imports because it would show up their own inferior products and affect the bottom line. In much of the world us chocolate if available is labelled as chocolate FLAVOURING

[@davebirch1976]

In America the Cadburys they have is made under licence by Hershey's, so it's nowhere near as good as the real thing. If Cadbury imported to the US Hershey's would go out of business, I'd love to know if there's any Americans who have tried UK Cadbury and prefer Hershey's over it 😆

[@brianoailpin6844]

Its what you grow up with. Like I can tell the difference between uk and irish made Cadburys chocolate. The uk stuff is completely tasteless and the texture is all wrong. But ill take it over the america stuff that literally tastes like vomit 🤢. But most Americans will be a custom to the taste. I seen somewhere its to do with the powderd milk processing the american process is different to the process in Europe

[@davebirch1976]

@@brianoailpin6844 having said that if you've ever tried Swiss chocolate, sometimes called Alpine chocolate, that is really nice, very milky and creamy.

[@scrappystocks]

American chocolate generally does not meet European standards and cannot be called chocolate in the UK and EU because it doesn't contain enough concentration of cocoa solids and cocoa butter and therfore does not meet the legal standard to be called chocolate. The minimum in the US is only 10% content whereas it's 30% in the UK and Europe. I believe Hersey bars only contain 11% cocoa solids.

[@jessieb7290]

Yeah I think England makes better chocolate, but they’re very sweet depending on what you eat over here.

[@DarkChaoto]

In the UK we still use the word "cookie" but only for a specific type of biscuit. The chocolate chip ones which were shown in the video are what we'd call cookies. Things like digestives, bourbon, rich tea, custard creams etc we call biscuits. Yes even Oreos are referred to as biscuits here.

[@5688gamble]

Portion size is everything! I remember when my partner complained about gaining weight when she was a vegan and how it was all the rice. I noticed she used large plates and filled them well- I suggested that she get smaller plates. So she ate smaller portions- still felt satisfied and lost weight. If given larger portions you have a tendency to eat as much as you can- all of it possibly. If the portion is twice the size- congratulations, you just ate twice as many calories- good luck burning an extra 500 calories or whatever! Whatever you do, if you aren't compensating by excersizing more, you will get fat! When I get fast food, it'll be a donner kebab and chips- in the same container- at £5, the portion would look small to many, but it is enough to satisfy me, why eat more? There is a myth about being personally responsible, but most of us aren't 100% responsible about every aspect of our lives- we are fallible. Another US problem here is just how much you rely on driving everywhere- I walk and bike almost everywhere I go, so without actively trying, I am burning calories, making myself fitter and eating less. When you are forced to drive everywhere and everything is catering to drivers without much thought for others- when cars are prioritized over pedestrians in everything from zoning, to street design, to businesses who build for cars and prioritize cusomers at a drive thru and you have large portions with extra fats and sugars- you get the double whammy of an inactive population that consumes way more calories! Good for fast food, oil and car companies, big pharma and any other company that profits- bad for small local business, people and communities. It is shocking. I lament how our society is becoming more like the US in terms of design in the UK and what I see in America only makes me want to resist that change more!

[@alisonbird5491]

On holidays in Florida, most times my daughter and I shared a meal, there was plenty for two on one plate.

[@andreasferenczi7613]

There is also that some additives lessen the sense of satisfaction. That makes some place another order and some others will just order a larger portion next time. Either way, they make more money off of their customers. Note: I'm not sure which additives those were and thus can't tell that this is the case with US McDonalds.

[@tullyDT]

My grandmother had her "good dishes" that she got as a wedding present in the 1950s the dinner plates in that set are closer in size to modern side plates

[@tullyDT]

@@andreasferenczi7613 Sugar, salt, artificial sweetener and MSG are the are the key ones.

[@manub.3847]

@@andreasferenczi7613 Many ingredients in ready-made or fast food irritate the feeling of satiety-> i.e. they make you hungrier than you actually are. Also (particularly in the US), the added ingredients are there to make the food look "pretty and appetizing," even though the main ingredient is often not of great quality. And it doesn't really matter if and in what way the ingredients negatively affect the human body, the main thing is that the production of the end product is possible inexpensively.

[@ellesee7079]

Take aways (including fish and chips) crisps, sweets and chocolate were all seen as a treat for me growing up, and were few and far between. We had cake often, but that was homemade, baked by me and my mum. I always think 'Americans try...' vids are interesting, as you can see the effect all the chemicals have had, when they say our snack and candy flavours are really mild. I think we can still taste things properly and haven't had our taste buds destroyed! Well, not yet!

[@da90sReAlvloc]

True true

[@iriscollins7583]

The only thing I like about a Macdonald's is the gherkin.I didn't get one in my last one, literally my last one. The burgers are tasteless. Would you call a cheese scone savoury? I make my own burgers with onions.

[@jennysmith8835]

@@iriscollins7583 my last macdonalds was forty years ago in Boston US, only place open, havent eaten meat since, but to be fair it probably didnt have much meat in it, was also gobsmacked by the portion sizes even back then, and the people sizes as in the uk back then you didnt see many obese people

[@sarahstrong7174]

@@iriscollins7583 Cheese Scones are certainly savoury. Traditionally, in the U.K. Scones are made without sugar. Sweetness is added when you put jam or fresh fruit with them, which makes a nice contrast. Fresh lettuce is great with cheese scones.

[@PriyaPans]

I think a lot more food is homemade at home in the UK than America. Yes we buy cakes and treats also, here in the UK. But a larger proportion of meals throughout the week in the UK are cooked in the home versus ibered in or whatever or out at a restaurant.

[@DetectiveDeuche]

It makes me giggle because our country has free health care, partly because we also don't add stupid poison to our foods which puts strain on the healthcare systems.

[@HarryFlashmanVC]

most eggs sold in the UK are Free Range or Barn Range eggs - battery eggs are now quite rare in the UK. Many people who live in the country have their own hens as well. Our hens have just gone into the barn for the winter, our Agriculture Ministry is very strict on controlling domesticated poultry because of bird flu. So the hens are locked up from November to May most winters to limit their contact with wild birds

[@phillallen01]

Do you not shop in the supermarkets most eggs are not free range or barn next time you shop take a closer look at what you are buying

[@HarryFlashmanVC]

@@phillallen01 most eggs for sale in our town in Tesco, Aldi, Lidl are free range. All eggs in Waitrose and M and S are free range. In winter these are usually labeled 'barn eggs' as free range hens are moved indoors.

[@HarryFlashmanVC]

@@phillallen01 I also worked in the UK food manufacturing sector and this is pretty much the case nationally.

[@moretus2270]

Sadly bird flu is here in Norfolk, there's going to be a shortage of turkeys. Luckily I'm a vegetarian! So sad all the birds have been destroyed 😢

[@iantellam9970]

@@phillallen01 According to official statistics from the UK egg industry free range eggs make up three quarters of all egg sales at retail. Morrisons and Sainsbury's phased out battery eggs some years ago, and Tesco aims to follow in the next couple of years.

[@ShaneWalta]

I've seen stories of people who have visited Europe from the US, eaten pretty much the same food as they do at home, and lost weight

[@TheBirdManOfAzkaban]

Fun fact: I worked in a UK McDonalds when the movie "Supersize Me" came out. Following that movie release, nothing changed in the USA, but the UK banned supersize... which was still smaller than the USA medium. 🤷‍♂️ What was heartbreaking was watching 'regulars' develop. I was a dynamo on the drive-thru... I could see a number plate (licence plate) on the CCTV and put in the order before they even reached the window (I was 💯% correct 99% of the time). I watched small children grow horizontally quicker than they grew vertically. It was sad!

[@robwainfur2073]

A gherkin is a small variety of a cucumber that's been pickled

[@Robr1701]

Americans would know them simply as pickles.

[@tonygreenfield7820]

Also a lot of US fast food joints include the complete pickle but in the UK it's generally just a few slices as a garnish.

[@mrsprivate1678]

Rapeseed oil is known as canola oil in the US also most people prefer to buy free range in the uk

[@mrsprivate1678]

Ranch is not really a thing here different countries different tastes. You should compare a British Christmas dinner to an American thanksgiving dinner . Completely different.

[@sarahfoster6765]

I love Ranch dressing but I have only ever seen Paul Newmans brand in a few supermarkets here in the UK 😞. ❤️🇬🇧

[@lydiamichaels1976]

The curry dip for uk is there because curry sauce is very popular over here. Mostly for things like a takeaway from the chippy. A “chippy” is basically a fast food/takeaway local shop but it’s always based on fish and chips. You can get other stuff too like onion rings, deep fried sausage etc. Basically curry sauce is used a lot for that

[@tdkyt46]

Don't forget chicken goujons

[@ScandalUK]

Except it doesn’t taste anything like any other curry sauce - so most Brits don’t like it!

[@lydiamichaels1976]

@@ScandalUK what are u on about💀it’s one of/the most popular sauce to have with chips in the country u melon

[@kiezorfc8559]

Yeah up here in Scotland if your from Edinburgh it’s salt and sauce and Glasgow is salt and vinegar and most places I’ve been in England it’s salt and gravy each to their own I suppose

[@lydiamichaels1976]

@@kiezorfc8559 gravy? Curry sauce is def more popular. Mayo too

[@djreddy666]

Man I love your reactions to these videos! Priceless 🙂 Coming at you from North Ferriby, East Yorkshire, England, UK buddy - I'm subbing just so I can see more of your ranting, love it!!

[@geekelly000]

An American girl went shopping in a UK supermarket and had a rant that the bread must be old because the expiry date was within 3 days, not realising that the bread is baked fresh in store everyday and because it's not full of preservatives it will expire quicker 😂 It's also discounted by 8pm because it can't be sold the next day.

[@beckk8863]

I went to US once and we left bread rolls in a hot car for like a week and they were still 'fresh' . Probably wouldn't last a day in UK. US bread must be full of sugars too because it tastes so sweet. The drinks were the most different though, the size of american soft drinks!

[@vaudevillian7]

Ranch is a very American thing - there aren’t many ‘ranches’ in the UK either We tend not to drench salads in as much dressing as you do in the US either

[@soulesswolves]

you can get ranch dressing here in the uk, just very rare

[@donmongoose]

Fun fact, Cool Original Doritos (blue ones) are Ranch flavoured, presumably they went with that name rather than Ranch because no one here would know what Ranch means.

[@tometty]

I love ranch after a holiday in the U.S. that and buffalo together. I wish it was more available here

[@jessieb7290]

We have ranch in supermarkets and I love ranch!

[@vaudevillian7]

@@soulesswolves oh yeah, there’s lots of things you can get here but what I mean is it’s not really a widespread thing at all here, you have to really look for it

[@thisismetoday]

Those ingredients are cheaper than the real thing, increase taste and addictiveness, and therefore essentially all is designed in the US (and to a smaller extent in the UK) to increase profit.

[@HighHoeKermit]

Ranch dressing isn't really a thing here in the UK, altho you will find it as an option at Subway. Chick Fil A opened one store in the UK in Reading around 2020, but had to close it's doors after they were protested by LGBT+ groups about some donations they had made or something. The Post Modern Family (US living in UK) did visit it whilst it was open, so there is a video floating around here somewhere. p.s. Gherkin is the round thing in the middle you call the pickle, but also a building in London whose shape resembles an uncut gherkin.

[@iantellam9970]

They've stopped doing ranch at Subway for some unknown reason. I was very disappointed.

[@HighHoeKermit]

@@iantellam9970 Shows how long it is since I've been to one then! Ha

[@darkhoogan]

The chick fil A in reading was also in like the worst spot in the oracle shopping centre. You go up the main escalators then have to do almost a 180 to go to where the chick fil A was instead of just walking forward. That particularly spot was notorious as like 4-5 restaurants had all been there previously and closed due to lack of traffic, its not in the natural line of sight at all. Oh yeah and the owners of chick fil A being super homophobic and the subsequent weekly protests didn't help.

[@kath3832]

Isn't an uncut gherkin just a small kind of cucumber?

[@HighHoeKermit]

@@kath3832 Yeah it's a pickled cucumber

[@droof100]

The difference in calories - weight by weight - is due to added sugar and fats. Sucrose/fructose/glucose is added far more in the US than the UK. This isn't just in fast food - its pretty much the majority of US products - bread is the one that always sticks in my memory. Bread in the US has roughly 3 times the amount of fat, and 5 times the amount of sugar added to it!

[@simplypawly4500]

We do call cookies… cookies too, I m surprised Harry didn’t correct Joe 😅 our biscuits is things like Digestives, viennese whirls, biscoff and Oreo type things. I know Oreo might be debatable whether it’s a cookie or a biscuit

[@jmurray1110]

I say biscuit because they are quite hard and act more like a bourbon or a custard creepam unlike a cookie that I would say is large, soft and usually chewy

[@foxley5374]

I'm very surprised they don't use free range eggs in the US McD's. In the UK that would be a PR nightmare. Also, the veggie dippers are actually really good and underrated, despite what the video said. If you ever come to the UK, give them a chance! I was pleasantly surprised the first time I tried them and I've ordered them many times since.

[@marycarver1542]

Most eggs, if not all now, are free range in the UK. or "barn eggs" which means they live in huge sheds, sawdust floors, perches, fresh water and room to run around. Caged chickens were totally banned some years ago.

[@Unknown-ov2kz]

A homeschooled kid petitioned and got large supermarkets to only sell free-range, so it's hard to find eggs that are not free-range.

[@nmarks]

I was in hospital recently, I was quite seriously ill. The food at the hospital was not exactly what you would call satisfying but I went with it. Then one day my wife brought me a personal favourite, a Spicy McChicken burger. It was very kind of her and I was very grateful. Unfortunately I was only able to go as far as two bites and I had to stop. Why? It was the salt. My illness had made me far more sensitive to salt. It tasted like I was eating a salt cake with a bit of chicken mixed in. I really couldn't eat it all.

[@larryholmes69]

Steve,,,,my wife , my son and I vacationed in Florida a few years ago, and my son said he fancied a McDonalds while en route to Universal Studios. I pulled in to the first drive through we came across, and ordered exactly the same meals as I would if we ate at McDonalds in the UK. We honestly couldn't believe the size of every item of food, in fact I remember my son remarking it was the first time he'd had a bucket full of Pepsi. Needless to say , none of us could eat all of our food, there was just so much of it . After watching this vid I now realise why we all felt so ill for the rest of the day. Love watching your reactions mate. Keep up the good work.

[@bslizardette4669]

I think I'll always remember the time a tourist from the US marched up to my register when I worked at McDonald's, and loudly proclaimed: "I. ordered. a. *plus-sized meal"* and held out the large drink to my face. Back then I hadn't been to the States, so I was confused and just answered: "That *is* the plus-sized drink." His attack dwindled immediately, "This? This is the largest drink you have?" "Indeed it is." And then he turned to his company, and baffledly repeated those words to the people he'd come to the restaurant with, who all were standing behind him like a herd. I assumed that all of them had been ready to demand larger portions after the first guy, but then they gushed for a moment and went to enjoy their meals. They didn't even come back to the register to buy something extra to fill up the difference in meal size.

[@beccasalt8960]

When I tried a milkshake in a US McDonald's, it about blew my head off. I don't know what they put in those things but it was way more than I expected compared to the UK version! Enough to have anyone bouncing off the walls

[@Neil457]

The UK has something called the Food Hygiene Standards Agency, if places use something that they don’t declare on the ingredients list or lie about quantities of ingredients or calorific values they can be fined

[@PinkkElephantt]

Thank you for this. With all of the crap going on in the UK right now, I'm feeling very jaded with the whole country. Nice to know we get some things right!

[@irenemorley75]

I think you will find there is crap going on all over the world, pull yourself together.

[@PinkkElephantt]

@@irenemorley75 You're right. It just feels particularly crap in the UK, but of course, that's a little self pitying.

[@caroljoelucy]

You're right. Post Brexit/Covid, Food prices, petrol and electric bills through the roof, cant afford the heating on. Working people using food banks. Its not good right now.

[@madratlady]

Just wait, corporations are itching to get rid of the pesky red tape of food standards that EU membership afforded us, once Brexit takes full force, we will see these ingredients too. Taking back control innit?

[@ogrimbothesour2976]

whats sad is a lot of this is the lingering effects of european health standards that we are slowly getting rid of bit by bit in order to cut corners and all that jazz.

[@kallmewas]

When Macca's first arrived in Australia, they introduced the big mac as a premium hamburger, It was half the size of a normal hamburger. Our premium Hamburgers had buns twice the size, the ingredients were beef patty, cheese, lettuce, tomato, beetroot, pineapple, onion, bacon, and egg. All for a couple of dollars, big mac was about 5 bucks. This was in the mid 70's

[@Oceansteve]

I found fast food in general better in the UK vs US, albeit with smaller portions too. Healthiest Mac Donald’s I found was in Australia and had what seemed to me, to be more well balanced regular dishes dietary wise. I recognised in some poorer parts of the world, that meat were less high quality particularly beef meat. There was also vastly more spicy sauce on what should be less spicy food.. eg. Africa KFC had a layer of chilli sauce under the special coating.

[@vaudevillian7]

Corn syrup seems to be in everything in the US, down to lobbying I believe (probably one of the core problems in US politics). Remember the first time I had bread in the US, it tasted so sweet

[@enkisdaughter4795]

As a Diabetic, whenever I went to Florida, my blood sugars used to jump sky high, as corn syrup was in everything. I was always unwell whilst I was there and only got back to normal when I got home.

[@helvete983]

American bread is banned in many places in Europe because the sugar content is 6 times higher than here. The ingredients and preservatives they use in the USA make their bread on the cusp of being called cake in the EU.

[@94Angelwing]

I visited the US 20 years ago, and my friends and I were astounded at the large portion sizes there. I think we tried a Wendy's (I may have mis remembered that , 20 years ago!) at some point and we were blown away and confused by the fact you had FREE refills on soft drinks! I just couldn't get my head around it - it was like we were stealing!

[@lesleynicholls5677]

In pubs like Toby carvery in UK you get free refills.

[@SeanHendy]

Similarly, about 20 years ago one of my colleagues visited New York with his girlfriend. He could eat, but when he came back he said that he didn't finish a single meal, the portion sizes were that big.

[@LBGHughes]

My heart goes out to you in the USA, i have a love of family concentrated in amd around Boston. It makes me very sad and angry to think of how human beings are being impacted by legislative negligence on the part of the FDA and your government. You and your families deserve so much better, please keep making these video, it spreads awareness and helps apply pressure to the bodies that allow this nonsense. All of us in these comments lets do our best, sing petitions, shame companies on their social pages ect. Im praying for you guys neacusw this cannot stand ❤🙏🏾.

[@malpa2345]

The US portion sizes are outrageous

[@sahhull]

It kinda matches the size of their egos

[@Hoscitt]

@@sahhull and waistlines!

[@irenemorley75]

@@sahhull 🤣🤣🤣

[@irenemorley75]

@@Hoscitt 🤣🤣🤣

[@keithsyers5833]

Everything is BIG in America including the cars

[@cdeford]

I like McDonald's occasionally, but if we in the UK had the US ingredients I wouldn't touch it. Fast food can be addictive and planning to make people dependent and overweight may be an actual thing. That Chicken Legend with cool mayo is really nice.

[@jennysmith8835]

sugar is apparantly more addictive than heroin

[@mattcalder1936]

Yeah sorry to burst your bubble, actual UK Maccies worker here, no more chicken legends, its been replaced by the McCrispy (which is a load of shit)

[@JrKengu]

they got rid of the chicken legend. and replaced it with a boring ass "mcrispy" aka mcchicken sandwich 2.0

[@mattcalder1936]

@@JrKengu They were thinking about replacing it since late 2019

[@marydavis5234]

Actually in the US all ingredients in the flour, oils, milk and butter has to be listed and in the UK , they don't have to be listed.

[@BillySugger1965]

FYI: Gherkin is a pickle. Rapeseed oil is canola oil. Lecithin is an emulsifier to make the oil and water based ingredients mix.

[@melzeybabe2]

I think ranch is definitely an American thing. In Aus, we do rarely have ranch flavoured anything, but we do have Aioli that's often served with chips (aka fries) at most restaurants. Tomato sauce (aka ketchup), bbq sauce or sweet & sour are the usual fast food sauces available 😊

[@ABetney]

​@@gerardflynn7382aioli IS garlic

[@awmperry]

Oh, and when I went on a school trip to the US back in 2000, we stopped off at a McDonalds when our coach left NYC. I ordered a super size Fanta, on the assumption that it would be maybe 0.75 l as in Europe; instead it was enormous and not only lasted all the way to our accommodations in Vermont but much of the evening as well.

[@leighwagstaff2100]

It's because the U.S class food as just a commodity not thinking this is food going in someone's mouth and tummy, there only thinking about the money and not the health!.. love from Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@grahamsmith9541]

In the UK McDonald's French Fries are approved by the Vegetarian society for vegans to eat. The other McDonald's Vegan/Vegetarian products are approved. The Vegetarian society inspects places that want to use there approval symbol on menus. They not only check the business to make sure that there won't be cross contamination. But the supply chain as well. Also make random checks to ensure standards haven't slipped.

[@jennivamp5]

When we went to visit the US as a family we went to an American macdonalds just to see what it was like. I had to order for my family because the staff couldn't understand my mum's accent. She's from the North of England but she moved to the South 30+ years ago and her accent is not very strong anymore. (Think of Sean Bean's accent but softer). We ordered larges because we'd heard how crazy they were and wanted to see. I was completely shocked at the size of the drink. It was absolutely enormous! I couldn't finish it. I was sipping on that thing for 2 days and I just couldn't manage it!

[@janicevango5791]

I was thinking as I was watching the video - who on earth drinks almost a litre of liquid like that? Jeez, that’s way too much! In fact, the stuff the American guy had on his trays made me feel sick. The list of ingredients is even worse.

[@timcopley119]

I agree, who sits down and drinks 1L of coke. It's bonkers.

[@JrKengu]

@@janicevango5791 so you never had a litre of coke out of a bottle over a couple hours? that's most likely what they do wit theirs, I doubt anyone actually just drinks it there and then, they keep it for a couple hours. but 1l isnt that much liquid lmao. Fastest I drank a 1.5L bottle of coke was like 1 hour., (Im from Europe, and mostly drink water) On the few occassions that I do drink coke or something, I don't think 1L is that much. That's like 2 energy drinks, I can drink 2 energy drinks in the space of like 30 minutes.

[@carriedudley8593]

Many people saying that we dont have many fast-food restaurants here in the Uk, but in the small town i live in there are lots of small independent fast food takeaways selling burgers kebabs, pizzas fried chicken etc and it always tastes much better than any large franchise variety. We also have fish and chips and Chinese and Indian takeeays.

[@donnawilletts7975]

We don't have ranch dressing in McDonald's (UK) but we do have sour cream and chive dip - it's delicious.

[@tamielizabethallaway2413]

You apologising for ranting...? Hahahaha we're British! Ranting is a national sport, Sarcasm is our first language! 😁 It seems you really are connecting to your British roots now! 😂😂😂 BTW our McDonald's ingredients are all home grown. British beef, British potatoes, etc Gherkins I think you call dill pickles. In the Summer English fields are full of the yellow flowers of rapeseeds growing. We don't say fillet as FILL AY we say FILL IT Never heard of ranch sauce! We have biscuits, cookies, and scones. Scones can be savoury, I love cheese scones. To be honest our fast food isn't really unhealthy, other than fast food is often fried and frying isn't a great way to cook daily. But ingredients wise, they're all fresh home grown. Fish and chips, our fish is caught in the morning and in stores hours later. Fruit and veg is often picked and on shelf within a couple of hours. Free range eggs are what most people buy. They do sell caged hens eggs, which some poorer people would buy....but I'm poor and I'll only buy free range.

[@geoffpoole483]

A warm buttered cheese scone with a hint of mustard in the dough is heavenly. Steve is pretty good at ranting!

[@tamielizabethallaway2413]

@@geoffpoole483 yeah he's getting there! Doing well, I could certainly help with his training though. 😂 He's still quite incredulous and reserved, once he starts asserting his rights and let's rip with the F bombs, then we can award him with a Union Flag tattoo, a rowdy Friday night in the pub slurring his way through "I will survive" on karaoke after 12 pints of Carling, and round the night off with a large doner kebab and chips! I'm in! You coming? Rack up the pool table! 😁😁😁

[@watcherzero5256]

Some of those US 'exclusives' we have here too as regular items. The chicken tenders are called Chicken Selects (and come in 3 or 5 with 1 or 2 dips) along with burger variants using them, we do have a quarter pounder with cheese but it doesnt have lettuce and tomato just diced onion, you have 'breakfast burrito', we have breakfast wraps. On sauces we do have sweet and sour along with Ketchup, Brown Sauce, BBQ, Smoky BBQ, Sweet Chilli, Curry and Mayonnaise. We also have two types of chicken burger, one with a soft tempura battered butter chicken and the other with a crispy deep fried chicken breast that can also be spicy (along with limited period burgers featuring the chicken selects). Had a Teriyaki burger in Japan which was a beef burger with Teriyaki sauce which was nice (but messy), they also have the option of having 4 chicken nuggets instead of chips as the side in meals. The weirdest thing in Japan though was some stuff came with a sachet of powdered cheese (like you get on Doritos) rather than actual cheese.

[@julieg5610]

The biggest 'fast food' chain in the UK 🇬🇧 is Greggs. Check it out as it's so different from anything you have in the USA. It's basically a bakery where you can get all different pastry foods - I don't think you eat any of them in America (sausage roll, pasty). The breakfast menu is hot rolls with sausage and British bacon (thick cut and soft) and porridge.

[@georgebarnes8163]

Co-Op food is the biggest fast food chain in the UK, also twice the sales of Greegs which is smaller than Subway as well.

[@razmataz13drums]

Co-op is not a fast food place, its a grocery shop. Im surprised that subway is more popular than subway though. Hmm i really fancy a subway...

[@georgebarnes8163]

@@razmataz13drums Co-Op most certainly is a fast food concern with many restaurants, the biggest in the UK by a mile with 3, 946 outlets

[@fraserwilson227]

@@georgebarnes8163 where? I’ve lived in the UK all my life and have never come across a Co-op fast food joint / restaurant in any town or city I’ve been to. They are mainly supermarkets or convenience shops as the other poster mentioned. They might sell some take away items, e.g. hot sausage rolls but in the same way Sainsbury’s would.

[@whitehorses460]

greggs is horrible greasy ass pastry

[@ffotograffydd]

When I was serving in the military we used to go bowling at one of the US military bases, we all noticed that we had difficulty getting to sleep on bowling night. We knew the Coca Cola served on the US base was flown in from the US so we compared the ingredients and found out the the US version had a higher caffeine content and more sugar.

[@EmmaFlutterfly]

Googled Maccy Ds (UK) - they advertise they use British and Irish beef only, RSPCA assured pork, free range eggs, 100% chicken breast meat, UK dairy farm milk, British potatoes, sustainably sourced fish, 100% arabica coffee beans. Seen it advertised when picking up a quick meal and while it’s not classed as healthy eating, they have tried to improve their image over the years here.

[@doobiedootwo3517]

Gherkins are small pickled cucumbers. I think MacDonalds in the UK has a reputation for junk food - even they do have to meet food standards for ingredients. But in the last few years they have started to clean up their act so they can advertise that they use free range egg and their chips are made from potatoes, salt and oil. There was a point where the government were talking about taxing unhealthy food, so many manufacturers reduced portion sizes or reduced salt and sugar. Once one fast food chain does this then others need to follow suit, and instead of a race to the bottom you get retailers upping their game 👍

[@MikeRox83]

I'm pretty sure the breakfasts in the UK use free range eggs too but free range is a marketing thing in the UK as it makes the product sound better. So they make more from having a slightly more expensive ingredient than they would not having it.

[@marycarver1542]

Free range eggs actually MEAN they are free to run around ...

[@MikeRox83]

@@marycarver1542 I know what free range is, what I'm trying to say is that more people will buy it with that label than not having it (the Free Range boost gives them more money than they'd save using barn eggs). Though all chickens have been stuck in barns recently due to aviary flu. There's technically no British Free Range eggs atm as a result.

[@Unknown-ov2kz]

I'm now picturing eggs with little legs running around.

[@emanymton713]

You’ll notice UK had modified maize( corn) starch as an ingredient but didn’t report how it was modified. The US has to specify what the modifications were. That’s why our ingredients list gets so long.

[@Melanie_7796]

I've never been to the US but I do have a sister there. I'm Irish and my sister sent over a big box of sweets and snacks for my kids and honestly, most of it went in the bin 🙈 far to Sweet, strange tastes and textures and in all honesty, the confectionary over here is ALOT better. The only thing the kids thought were nice were the Swedish fish jelly things. But it was nice to see the difference

[@marycarver1542]

No artificial additives or colours permitted in British food.

[@suttoncoldfield9318]

In 2002, we went on a family holiday to take our nephew to see Disneyland in Florida (well, that's our excuse). After seven days of eating out of spicy-this and flavoured-that, I went to Walmart to find - plain bread - plain butter - plain ham - plain cheese. My impression was that if you have a) good health, or b) good wealth, or c) both then you'll have a comfortable life but if you are unfortunately missing a) AND b) then you're gonna struggle. We all had a really enjoyable time.

[@hashtag_thisguy]

UK has better food standards because we have socialised heath care. There is no incentive for FDA in America to restrict additives to foods because there is no additional cost to the treasury if there is a nation of sickness and ill health. Bad health is a business that generates money for the treasury in the US where as in the UK it's a liability for the treasury to pay.

[@JohnTaylor-bf6ll]

I have a feeling that much fewer people rely on McDonalds over here, than possibly in the US. I only usually see very youngish people hanging around McDonalds. Myself, I get my burgers from the local butchers who makes them himself with real beef and onions. Then I add a nice barbecue sauce, or chutney (English speciality) and fresh vegetables. When YOU come over, I've already mentioned I think more than once, that there a cafés where you can eat huge platters for not much more than McDonalds, so it's up to you how you enjoy your travels.

[@phillallen01]

Really you want to live near me the road is gridlocked from 6pm till about 8pm people trying to get to McDonald's its redicules

[@germangarcia6118]

(old man rant incoming) It really makes me sad when I see burger chains full of teens when the next door every bar makes sandwiches and tapas that are cheaper and way better.

[@zachsaunders8075]

I'm from the UK and haven't had a maccies in over 5 years

[@piinkyh6717]

In Mcdonalds in the uk, Coffee isn't as highly consumed over here(it's mainly fizzy juice or milkshakes when you buy McDs/KFC/Burgerking) Sweet curry sauce, tomato, bbq and salsa are our 4 main sauces in McDs. Most places also only sell "diet" or "zero" fizzy juice now too (due to the government trying to reduce high sugar food&drink from being consumed) Even our supermarkets are now no longer allowed to "promote" high sugar items on promotion ends & sideframes.🤣

[@adrn25m]

The European Union has tight regulations on food safety and additives, so as the UK was a member of the European Union for many years, we changed our laws to ban unsafe or risky ingredients, even the way chicken is prepared in USA abertouirs with a chlorine bath is higher risk than how Europe does it so that USA chicken is banned from entering Europe, even eggs are prepared differently by egg producers in USA and need to be refrigerated, but European egs are done differently so don't need refrigeration to slow the bacterial growth. European foods often contain no artificial colourings or flavourings and are proud to state that on their packaging as a selling point. A lot of E numbers were banned to make foods safer.

[@reactingtomyroots]

Yeah, definitely jealous of that! Our "food" is severely lacking in the US.

[@MikeSmith-wx9xe]

We have almost all the things on the menu here in New Zealand! But made with all natural produce and New Zealand grass fed beef!

[@nickfielding5685]

At least the NZ chip has five ingredients instead of 21 ingredients. The five ingredient are chicken salt (turmeric, onion, salt) potatoes, olive oil.

[@jimnolan830]

The biggest difference I notice when on holiday in the States is the amount of salt in the sausage mc muffins. Also, given how much you love portion size over quality double sausage, and egg seems to be off the menu now. But my biggest gripe, at least in california, is the state of the toilets, which were universally disgusting.

[@tullyDT]

I couldn't get over how salty the meat was and who sweet the bread was.

[@Unknown-ov2kz]

I'm assuming the toilets are related to your reaction to the food. 😂 Also, the transgender bathroom "debate" seems a little more valid if the toilet cubicals are basically shows for the queuers because of the gaps. 🙄

[@dmh101]

We do have quarter pounders with cheese. Theres also a couple of things that come in and out as temp items now and again through the year like the big tasty (with or without bacon). Then theres promotional items they will have in for a month only. Im not sure on the strawberry sundaes but we have the mcflurry.

[@hatjodelka]

When my daughter was in the US she was gobsmacked by the massive portion sizes. She went to a diner every morning, got a doggy bag for what she couldn't eat and it lasted her all day!

[@natwel1544]

Me? 2

[@wotexpat9367]

The Gherkin is the small green fruit of a plant related to the cucumber, used for pickling. Many people remove these as they taste a little bitter.

[@keithsyers5833]

Probably to hide or tone down the sweetness in the bun and sauce .

[@Cleow33]

They aren’t bitter. They are sweet/ tart and I love them. Everyone always gives me theirs!

[@Gr0nal]

Bitter? No way are they ever bitter. Least not the ones in fast food burgers. Only way I could see a gherkin being bitter is if you picked it off the plant waaaay too late.

[@ghostofsosaria7534]

Gherkin is the sliced round green pickle we have instead of your diced pickle Free range just means the chickens were free to roam in pens rather than kept in small cages. Quality is the same

[@lacywoooo]

We do have mcflurries in the UK and we quarter pound with cheese it's one of our permanent items so I don't know why the UK didn't show this. Also we do have ranch dressing in our supermarkets but it's not popular, the most popular sauces and dips are..... Curry, sour cream and chives, ketchup, BBQ, sweet chillie, brown sauce, mayonnaise, salad cream and burger sauce.

[@KaoSBluey]

Also isn't McMuffin not the UK version of a McGriddle?

[@Wimblefish]

​@@KaoSBlueykinda, but not quite. McMuffins are made with English muffins, sausage patty and cheese (plus and egg if you're fancy lol). The McGriddle was a sausage patty and cheese, with pancakes on either side.

[@1967PONTIACGTO]

I live in Canada, and when we go to the USA for holidays we have to be very aware that portion sizes in restaurants are much larger than in Canada, and we have to be careful not to order too much food... we usually order one salad and one main, and share... and I hated when we would take the kids into a restaurant and I would order them milk, and the waitress would invariably ask if they want chocolate milk... no!... and thanks for creating an argument with the children... how to take something healthy and make it unhealthy

[@dirtywaterpj_dj]

My first time in the US, I went home with half my meal in a bag the first few times.

[@neilstone3571]

We know how to have fun

[@ausrobroy1964]

You guys would call Gherkin a pickle. It's a small plant related to cucumber, and it's pickled in brine/vinegar.

[@EmilyCheetham]

You can get both sweet and savoury scones (my mum used to make cheese scone for instance) in uk but most people eat the sweet scones in uk as they are popular serves with jam and clotted cream as afternoon tea.

[@eleanorcooke7136]

I don't like scones but I can make them pretty well. I've only every made cheese scones once, as part of a baking club at my school. I make sweet scones for my mum and she generally has them with raspberry jam and whipped cream.

[@EmilyCheetham]

@@eleanorcooke7136 unfortunately since I got a dairy allergy I cannot eat scones unless I make special vegan ones myself which are never as good.

[@eleanorcooke7136]

@@EmilyCheetham yeah, there is a lot of milk in scones.

[@davidioanhedges]

What the USA refers to as a Biscuit is an basically an unsweetened Scone - very similar to the topping of a savoury Cobbler

[@kittyjohnstone5915]

Here in Scotland Scones range from plain through savoury to sweet, then you have the girdle (griddle) scone which can be served as part of a “full Scottish Breakfast” or with butter and jam.

[@geoffreycodnett6570]

Must be my Scots ancestry that makes me mix and match scones, buns etc! The North England "barm cake " is actually a soft bread roll made using the remains of the yeast thrown down in beer making. Soda bread, scones etc were originally yeast leavened but sodium bicarbonate being made cheaply made the process faster.

[@lauriewsmith1]

US viewers may be surprised to hear the the UK wrap of the day (BBQ crispy chicken and bacon is my favourite!) is only £1.99 ($2.56). Great value. Also, we do have quarter pounder with cheese. The beef flavour to the fries probably makes them more tasty and addictive. I imagine it's subtle and the fries don't taste overly of beef but I'd be interested to see what they taste like. Especially as UK McD fries already taste pretty good.

[@luchia4tom134]

one thing about the drink sizes. to my knowledge its quite common in the US to have the cup filled with ice and then the drink poured in so the amounts may end up balancing out in the UK there would only be a small handful of ice cubes, unless thats changed as i dont often go and i never choose ice, so theres more space for the actual drink you paid for. although we dont really have the unlimited refill options that US seems to have.

[@andrewbarbarash3116]

Also also... When I was in the State's a while back I had McDonald's and I vomited afterwards I wasn't used to the over abundance of toxic ingredients, it definitely has more flavour than the UK equivalent but not necessarily a better flavour! Just a more rich gross flavour.

[@davidioanhedges]

Fries : Cheaper oils affect the taste and the way they look, so the sodium acid pyrophosphate makes them look better, and Dextrose (sugar), and Flavourings masks the taste Burger : highly processed cheaper ingredients, with extra ingredients again to improve the look and taste, and make it sweeter (Gherkin is a pickle) Drinks : all the McDonalds drinks are sweet in the UK, but extremely sweet in the USA ... All the sauces are available in the UK ... but just not sold at McDonalds Note the US prices I can find show that the cost in the USA is more than the UK - even allowing for size difference - but using cheaper ingredients

[@scottguffie7759]

Here in the UK we don't actually have many fast food chains compared to the US. If you do make it over here on a trip though, I would actually recommend that you seek out a local pub or Sports Bar instead. There you will find good quality proper food such as the ever classic Fish and Chips (Battered Cod or Haddock with what you would call Chunky Fries) that is handmade and at prices only slightly higher than at a Fast Food Place. Even better, since it's handmade using good ingredients you certainly won't feel bad after eating it.

[@jabezhane]

That sports bar probably has a truck deliver a thousand pre-packed microwave meals ready for you to order and eat. You'd be surprised.