American Reacts to US vs UK McDonald's

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  • Опубликовано: 29 ноя 2022
  • 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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Комментарии • 3,6 тыс.

  • @mattsmith5421
    @mattsmith5421 Год назад +1252

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

    • @katydaniels508
      @katydaniels508 Год назад +57

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

    • @more-reasons6655
      @more-reasons6655 Год назад +84

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

    • @altair5240
      @altair5240 Год назад +38

      @@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
      @234cheech Год назад

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

    • @mrsprivate1678
      @mrsprivate1678 Год назад +52

      @@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
    @katydaniels508 Год назад +186

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

  • @AstraRune
    @AstraRune Год назад +71

    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
      @maxwhite8470 6 месяцев назад +6

      Battery is banned but there are still cage farms

    • @okelydokely9984
      @okelydokely9984 Месяц назад

      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
      @chuck1804 22 дня назад

      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.

  • @debraparker4846
    @debraparker4846 Год назад +139

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

    • @smiley9872
      @smiley9872 7 месяцев назад +7

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

    • @SECRETORDEROFTHEKNIGHTSTEMPLAR
      @SECRETORDEROFTHEKNIGHTSTEMPLAR 7 месяцев назад

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

    • @pantherinae_art
      @pantherinae_art 6 месяцев назад +4

      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
      @jimwald5299 6 месяцев назад

      @@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
      @den2k885 6 месяцев назад

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

  • @helena188
    @helena188 Год назад +397

    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
      @jimwest7107 Год назад +14

      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
      @bam-skater Год назад +15

      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
      @helena188 Год назад +15

      @@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
      @RandomShart Год назад +12

      @@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
      @paulsprouse7239 Год назад

      Me to mate

  • @rachelmiller764
    @rachelmiller764 Год назад +273

    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
      @pcppbadminton Год назад +30

      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
      @pkf4124 Год назад +22

      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
      @nickrog6759 Год назад +24

      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
      @IntergalacticSpaceKitten Год назад +9

      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
      @matty7758 Год назад +9

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

  • @DewdewDC
    @DewdewDC Год назад +127

    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
      @keithdenton8386 10 месяцев назад +4

      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
      @Wally-H 9 месяцев назад +2

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

    • @Natalie-qu2ue
      @Natalie-qu2ue 8 месяцев назад +5

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

    • @lindykeddie3119
      @lindykeddie3119 8 месяцев назад +4

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

    • @Wally-H
      @Wally-H 8 месяцев назад +3

      @@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.

  • @adamarcher3089
    @adamarcher3089 Год назад +60

    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
      @Gr0nal 8 месяцев назад +8

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

    • @MarcLucksch
      @MarcLucksch 7 месяцев назад +4

      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
      @Iris_Astraea 7 месяцев назад +2

      I presume our alternative for ranch is salad cream

    • @carausias
      @carausias 6 месяцев назад +3

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

    • @LMSNETWORKLTD
      @LMSNETWORKLTD 6 месяцев назад

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

  • @michael_177
    @michael_177 Год назад +248

    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
      @Heggie42 Год назад +8

      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
      @paulmidsussex3409 Год назад +16

      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
      @michael_177 Год назад +3

      ackshually

    • @rozzyosbourne196
      @rozzyosbourne196 Год назад +32

      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
      @rozzyosbourne196 Год назад +6

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

  • @Wally-H
    @Wally-H Год назад +83

    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.

    • @gerardflynn7382
      @gerardflynn7382 10 месяцев назад

      Then you wonder why so many people in the US are so fat.

    • @clinging54321
      @clinging54321 9 месяцев назад +2

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

    • @MrPaultopp
      @MrPaultopp 9 месяцев назад +1

      McDonald’s ……. The culling machine

    • @jamjim3815
      @jamjim3815 7 месяцев назад

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

    • @welshwonkycam
      @welshwonkycam 7 месяцев назад

      A lot of the extra ingredients are colourings.

  • @moniqueb8545
    @moniqueb8545 Год назад +49

    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
      @eleanorcooke7136 6 месяцев назад +3

      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
      @felicitywoodruffe4087 6 месяцев назад +4

      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
      @DomainRider 5 месяцев назад +1

      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.

  • @nmarks
    @nmarks Год назад +29

    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.

  • @origamipig
    @origamipig Год назад +96

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

    • @errnee
      @errnee Год назад +1

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

    • @jonsouth1545
      @jonsouth1545 Год назад +1

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

    • @origamipig
      @origamipig Год назад

      @@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
      @iambenjaminwild Год назад +1

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

    • @geoffreycodnett6570
      @geoffreycodnett6570 Год назад +2

      @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.

  • @DatDirtyDog
    @DatDirtyDog Год назад +125

    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
      @JesterEric Год назад +6

      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
      @ruthbashford3176 Год назад +8

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

    • @DatDirtyDog
      @DatDirtyDog Год назад +1

      @@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
      @phillallen01 Год назад +3

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

    • @georgebarnes8163
      @georgebarnes8163 Год назад +4

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

  • @donnawilletts7975
    @donnawilletts7975 Год назад +13

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

  • @musicloverlondon6070
    @musicloverlondon6070 Год назад +40

    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
      @PaulBednall Год назад +5

      Rootbeer tastes like mouthwash at the dentist

    • @jevward5428
      @jevward5428 Год назад +4

      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
      @MostlyPennyCat Год назад +2

      Yes! Rootbeer tastes like how the dentist smells 😂🤢

    • @pepsicheng7758
      @pepsicheng7758 10 месяцев назад +3

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

    • @surfaceten510n
      @surfaceten510n 7 месяцев назад +1

      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.

  • @imfoxheim
    @imfoxheim Год назад +221

    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
      @jodiescrivener8005 Год назад +18

      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
      @tomsmith6513 Год назад

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

    • @jillybrooke29
      @jillybrooke29 10 месяцев назад +2

      Pure oily fat

    • @madyottoyotto3055
      @madyottoyotto3055 9 месяцев назад +3

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

    • @madyottoyotto3055
      @madyottoyotto3055 9 месяцев назад +6

      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

  • @jerry2357
    @jerry2357 Год назад +181

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

    • @xxWilky
      @xxWilky Год назад +4

      It is at subway

    • @ekatep6362
      @ekatep6362 Год назад +22

      They're pickles in US

    • @spitz5183
      @spitz5183 Год назад +19

      Ranch does exist in the UK, just not common.

    • @xx_predalien_xx4217
      @xx_predalien_xx4217 Год назад +8

      @@spitz5183 we normally use mayo not ranch

    • @spitz5183
      @spitz5183 Год назад +5

      @@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.

  • @scottguffie7759
    @scottguffie7759 Год назад +5

    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
      @jabezhane 7 месяцев назад

      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.

  • @billybudd5854
    @billybudd5854 Год назад +5

    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.

  • @corringhamdepot4434
    @corringhamdepot4434 Год назад +201

    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
      @madyottoyotto3055 Год назад +1

      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
      @rozzyosbourne196 Год назад +8

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

    • @lauram5943
      @lauram5943 Год назад +7

      Cheese scones though!

    • @grandmawandersoff
      @grandmawandersoff Год назад +7

      @@lauram5943scones are NOT biscuits!

    • @shirleyswaine4701
      @shirleyswaine4701 Год назад +7

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

  • @domramsey
    @domramsey Год назад +187

    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
      @NickBR57 Год назад +8

      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
      @FunniesRS Год назад +19

      @@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
      @NickBR57 Год назад +4

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

    • @mrfrenzy.
      @mrfrenzy. Год назад +16

      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
      @Tymbus Год назад +2

      I imagine there are cultural differences in taste

  • @djreddy666
    @djreddy666 Год назад +2

    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!!

  • @TheAlienFan
    @TheAlienFan Год назад +16

    I'm Scottish. When in Canada,l loved McDonalds as much as l do here but was blown away by Wendys. Best burgers ever. Wish they had outlets here

    • @KeithWilliamMacHendry
      @KeithWilliamMacHendry Год назад +1

      Absolutely. Wendy's are braw, fae brawer than MacDonalds

    • @bryandavies6930
      @bryandavies6930 10 месяцев назад +1

      We used to have Wendy's I think there is still one on the M4 in Wales it just never took off

  • @TheShoKuda
    @TheShoKuda Год назад +60

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

    • @joshuachalkley6883
      @joshuachalkley6883 Год назад +12

      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
      @mattc3581 Год назад +1

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

    • @armchairgeneralissimo
      @armchairgeneralissimo Год назад +1

      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
      @irenemorley75 Год назад

      @@joshuachalkley6883 And cooked in sunflower oil🤭🪣

    • @JrKengu
      @JrKengu Год назад

      @@joshuachalkley6883 MSG

  • @Weeflowerofscotland
    @Weeflowerofscotland Год назад +84

    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
      @ColinWatters Год назад +1

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

    • @egg_rl7118
      @egg_rl7118 Год назад +1

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

    • @gugumthembu7180
      @gugumthembu7180 Год назад +2

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

    • @davidmacgregor5193
      @davidmacgregor5193 Год назад +3

      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.

  • @lewiswernham6791
    @lewiswernham6791 7 месяцев назад +1

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

  • @helenedgington3135
    @helenedgington3135 Год назад +13

    One of the may shocking things about Mc Donald’s is the fries. In the UK there are only 3 ingredients in the US there are somewhere about 6 to 14 ingredients I think depending on the area you buy in the US. They are also not vegan in the US 🤷‍♀️

    • @chelseasmith5331
      @chelseasmith5331 7 месяцев назад

      they're not vegan in the uk either. the fry itself is but its cooked in oil that has touched other stuff :)

    • @ellisogaard2783
      @ellisogaard2783 6 месяцев назад +1

      ​@chelseasmith5331 in the UK mcdonald’s the fries are cooked in their own friers, no other food types come into contact with the fries. They are also cooked in vegetable oil, makes them vegan in my books lol

    • @chelseasmith5331
      @chelseasmith5331 6 месяцев назад

      @@ellisogaard2783 i asked about it, dont see why they’d lie but okay

    • @RobFalla
      @RobFalla 4 месяца назад

      @@chelseasmith5331because whoever you asked doesn’t know and was guessing???

    • @chelseasmith5331
      @chelseasmith5331 4 месяца назад

      @@RobFalla lmao sure Rob???

  • @tatiana4050
    @tatiana4050 Год назад +25

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

  • @sugarandchaos
    @sugarandchaos Год назад +48

    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
      @timothyreel716 Год назад

      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.

  • @simplypawly4500
    @simplypawly4500 Год назад +4

    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
      @jmurray1110 Год назад

      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

  • @DarkChaoto
    @DarkChaoto 7 месяцев назад +2

    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.

  • @SamanthaLove78
    @SamanthaLove78 Год назад +84

    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
      @ballagh Год назад +10

      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
      @grunions9648 Год назад +8

      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
      @estherjames2791 Год назад +8

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

    • @beeurd
      @beeurd Год назад +5

      ​@@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
      @irenemorley75 Год назад

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

  • @ShaneWalta
    @ShaneWalta Год назад +23

    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

  • @Neil457
    @Neil457 4 месяца назад +1

    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

  • @BillySugger1965
    @BillySugger1965 6 месяцев назад +1

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

  • @CriticalError8
    @CriticalError8 Год назад +74

    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
      @anachyinuk 7 месяцев назад +2

      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
      @fordcorsair 7 месяцев назад

      Sundays???🤣🤣🤣

    • @MGX93dot
      @MGX93dot 7 месяцев назад

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

    • @jorvikaengelskvinna7157
      @jorvikaengelskvinna7157 6 месяцев назад

      @@fordcorsair She meant sundaes :)

    • @fordcorsair
      @fordcorsair 6 месяцев назад

      @@jorvikaengelskvinna7157 🤣🤣🤣

  • @robwainfur2073
    @robwainfur2073 Год назад +42

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

    • @Robr1701
      @Robr1701 Год назад +13

      Americans would know them simply as pickles.

    • @tonygreenfield7820
      @tonygreenfield7820 Год назад +2

      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
      @mrsprivate1678 Год назад +1

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

    • @mrsprivate1678
      @mrsprivate1678 Год назад +2

      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
      @sarahfoster6765 Год назад +2

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

  • @Danlows1
    @Danlows1 7 месяцев назад +1

    Most eggs in the uk are free range, but there are also barn eggs and caged (battery farmed) eggs.
    Organic eggs are always free range too.
    The animal welfare standards in the uk are much stricter in the uk than in the us too.

  • @LBGHughes
    @LBGHughes 7 месяцев назад +2

    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 ❤🙏🏾.

  • @brightsparky7657
    @brightsparky7657 Год назад +57

    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
      @richardhockey8442 Год назад +2

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

    • @rossmackay-williams4583
      @rossmackay-williams4583 Год назад +4

      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
      @fix0the0spade Год назад +2

      @@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_
      @Number6_ Год назад +1

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

    • @jonathanwetherell3609
      @jonathanwetherell3609 Год назад +1

      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.

  • @smockboy
    @smockboy Год назад +132

    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
      @margueritahancock5472 Год назад +4

      Good answer lol

    • @enkisdaughter4795
      @enkisdaughter4795 Год назад +6

      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
      @sandrapaterson8678 Год назад +1

      🤣🤣🤣

    • @MKR5210
      @MKR5210 Год назад +2

      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
      @Paul_the_Bookworm Год назад

      @@MKR5210 an orgy

  • @davidroberts1187
    @davidroberts1187 Год назад +3

    We did have American size portions in UK very briefly around 20 years ago , I remember the staff asking if you would like to super size that sir , the drink was the size of a small waste paper basket, it was mental, I believe it was banned

  • @dmh101
    @dmh101 Год назад +2

    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.

  • @HarryFlashmanVC
    @HarryFlashmanVC Год назад +99

    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
      @phillallen01 Год назад +6

      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
      @HarryFlashmanVC Год назад +23

      @@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
      @HarryFlashmanVC Год назад +12

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

    • @moretus2270
      @moretus2270 Год назад +7

      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
      @iantellam9970 Год назад +13

      @@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.

  • @mikewilding3199
    @mikewilding3199 Год назад +56

    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
      @davebirch1976 Год назад +5

      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
      @brianoailpin6844 Год назад +5

      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
      @davebirch1976 Год назад +3

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

    • @scrappystocks
      @scrappystocks Год назад +7

      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
      @jessieb7290 Год назад

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

  • @larryholmes69
    @larryholmes69 8 месяцев назад

    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.

  • @Oceansteve
    @Oceansteve Год назад +3

    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.

  • @ellesee7079
    @ellesee7079 Год назад +83

    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
      @da90sReAlvloc Год назад +5

      True true

    • @iriscollins7583
      @iriscollins7583 Год назад +2

      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
      @jennysmith8835 Год назад +1

      @@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
      @sarahstrong7174 Год назад +2

      @@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
      @PriyaPans Год назад +1

      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.

  • @5688gamble
    @5688gamble Год назад +64

    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
      @alisonbird5491 Год назад +4

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

    • @andreasferenczi7613
      @andreasferenczi7613 Год назад +2

      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
      @tullyDT Год назад +2

      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
      @tullyDT Год назад +3

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

    • @manub.3847
      @manub.3847 Год назад +2

      @@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.

  • @smiley9872
    @smiley9872 7 месяцев назад

    "Free range" in the UK as far as I know means the hens are allowed out from the super packed barns during daylight to pick at the ground, it doesn't mean they are free to range whenever they feel like it as in farm produced eggs.

  • @adolfshitler
    @adolfshitler Год назад +2

    The UK McDs is set at the edge of the table, the US food (if you can call McDonalds food) is set in the middle of the table which will make them look bigger as they are nearest to the camera!
    And as for additives in this stuff, they're trying to make it addictive!

  • @vaudevillian7
    @vaudevillian7 Год назад +63

    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
      @soulesswolves Год назад +6

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

    • @donmongoose
      @donmongoose Год назад +4

      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
      @tometty Год назад +1

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

    • @jessieb7290
      @jessieb7290 Год назад

      We have ranch in supermarkets and I love ranch!

    • @vaudevillian7
      @vaudevillian7 Год назад +1

      @@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

  • @lydiamichaels1976
    @lydiamichaels1976 Год назад +48

    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
      @tdkyt46 Год назад +1

      Don't forget chicken goujons

    • @ScandalUK
      @ScandalUK Год назад +2

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

    • @lydiamichaels1976
      @lydiamichaels1976 Год назад +2

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

    • @kiezorfc8559
      @kiezorfc8559 Год назад +1

      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
      @lydiamichaels1976 Год назад

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

  • @DetectiveDeuche
    @DetectiveDeuche 8 месяцев назад +2

    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.

  • @carriedudley8593
    @carriedudley8593 4 месяца назад

    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.

  • @beccasalt8960
    @beccasalt8960 Год назад +22

    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

  • @droof100
    @droof100 Год назад +22

    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!

  • @thisismetoday
    @thisismetoday Год назад +1

    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.

  • @ghostofsosaria7534
    @ghostofsosaria7534 6 месяцев назад

    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

  • @foxley5374
    @foxley5374 Год назад +34

    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
      @marycarver1542 Год назад +9

      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
      @Unknown-ov2kz Год назад +2

      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.

  • @HighHoeKermit
    @HighHoeKermit Год назад +34

    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
      @iantellam9970 Год назад +5

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

    • @HighHoeKermit
      @HighHoeKermit Год назад +3

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

    • @darkhoogan
      @darkhoogan Год назад +1

      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
      @kath3832 Год назад +1

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

    • @HighHoeKermit
      @HighHoeKermit Год назад +2

      @@kath3832 Yeah it's a pickled cucumber

  • @ausrobroy1964
    @ausrobroy1964 6 месяцев назад

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

  • @susanhill2110
    @susanhill2110 10 месяцев назад

    Gherkin is a pickled cucumber. We do have the quarter pounder with cheese and various iced frappe’s and we have various McFlurrys. We also have specials which change every one to two months.

  • @bslizardette4669
    @bslizardette4669 Год назад +11

    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.

  • @kallmewas
    @kallmewas Год назад +13

    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

  • @SharonPorter-ox4zv
    @SharonPorter-ox4zv Год назад

    I dont know if you have the same but especially in the larger chains and restaurants, they have a folder where you can check out the list of ingredients for anything you may be allergic too, or dont want to consume, most places are really helpful.

  • @shelldrak3
    @shelldrak3 9 месяцев назад +1

    Scones for dessert 😂😂 there more for lunch and tea with clotted cream and jam!!

  • @PinkkElephantt
    @PinkkElephantt Год назад +56

    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
      @irenemorley75 Год назад +5

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

    • @PinkkElephantt
      @PinkkElephantt Год назад +5

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

    • @caroljoelucy
      @caroljoelucy Год назад +4

      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
      @madratlady Год назад

      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
      @ogrimbothesour2976 Год назад +7

      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.

  • @hippyshake29
    @hippyshake29 7 месяцев назад +1

    We don’t have chicken-fill -A in U.K. we have Burger King restaurant & Kentucky fried chicken restaurants. Pizza Hut, And my Favourite is dominoes pizzas. Hope this helps.

  • @rogerwitte
    @rogerwitte 6 месяцев назад

    Gherkins are miniature cucumbers, typically used to make pickles.

  • @vaudevillian7
    @vaudevillian7 Год назад +23

    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
      @enkisdaughter4795 Год назад +4

      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
      @helvete983 Год назад +5

      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
    @94Angelwing Год назад +35

    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
      @lesleynicholls5677 Год назад +2

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

    • @SeanHendy
      @SeanHendy 6 месяцев назад

      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.

  • @shazzataz
    @shazzataz 6 месяцев назад

    In the UK the calories of each item are printed on the box also a breakdown of nutrition per 100g so you know exactly what your eating

  • @EmmaFlutterfly
    @EmmaFlutterfly 10 месяцев назад

    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.

  • @malpa2345
    @malpa2345 Год назад +24

    The US portion sizes are outrageous

    • @sahhull
      @sahhull Год назад +1

      It kinda matches the size of their egos

    • @Hoscitt
      @Hoscitt Год назад +2

      @@sahhull and waistlines!

    • @irenemorley75
      @irenemorley75 Год назад

      @@sahhull 🤣🤣🤣

    • @irenemorley75
      @irenemorley75 Год назад

      @@Hoscitt 🤣🤣🤣

    • @keithsyers5833
      @keithsyers5833 Год назад

      Everything is BIG in America including the cars

  • @doobiedootwo3517
    @doobiedootwo3517 Год назад +11

    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 👍

  • @Homemade-in-4-Generations
    @Homemade-in-4-Generations 28 минут назад

    In uk we now have sugar tax for foods and drinks with high added sugar

  • @littlebudd
    @littlebudd 7 месяцев назад +1

    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.

  • @ffotograffydd
    @ffotograffydd Год назад +25

    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.

  • @jennivamp5
    @jennivamp5 Год назад +15

    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
      @janicevango5791 Год назад +9

      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
      @timcopley119 Год назад +9

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

    • @JrKengu
      @JrKengu Год назад

      @@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.

  • @KeithWilliamMacHendry
    @KeithWilliamMacHendry Год назад

    I love it when you get wound up by this sort of stuff Stevie lad, superbious! 🤪

  • @r.t1576
    @r.t1576 Год назад

    In the UK, the portion of Macdonald's meals used to be big - burgers used to be big too - around 25 years ago. They shrunk the size to stop people from getting fat. In reality, if you are still hungry after a meal, then buy more! It's like Apple stop including a charger in a iPhone package to save the planet. If you want a charger, buy them separately from the store.
    13:15 Gherkin is a pickled cucumber. The flat round green on the right side of the burger. Personally, I'm not fond of gherkins.

  • @Melanie_7796
    @Melanie_7796 Год назад +19

    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
      @marycarver1542 Год назад

      No artificial additives or colours permitted in British food.

  • @cdeford
    @cdeford Год назад +22

    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
      @jennysmith8835 Год назад +3

      sugar is apparantly more addictive than heroin

    • @mattcalder1936
      @mattcalder1936 Год назад +1

      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
      @JrKengu Год назад

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

    • @mattcalder1936
      @mattcalder1936 Год назад

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

    • @marydavis5234
      @marydavis5234 Год назад

      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.

  • @DrGreenGiant
    @DrGreenGiant 12 дней назад

    Adding the extra ingredients are most likely cheaper. Bulking agents and emulsifiers to enable cheaper fats to be used.
    That said, the video takes quite a few liberties to make the American ingredients list look worse. Not separating different oils for the American list but putting them in brackets on one line for the UK, i spotted. Also, listing spices several times, then listing individual spices also, like tumeric.
    Nevertheless, this still very much highlights ultra processed food for what it is.
    Also; the chicken wraps are really good!

  • @TypicalGoldfish
    @TypicalGoldfish 15 дней назад

    Gherkin is just another word for pickles
    also, the eggs are free range because I'm pretty sure we don't have any factory farms here in the UK. I could be wrong about this though.

  • @awmperry
    @awmperry Год назад +6

    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.

  • @MikeSmith-wx9xe
    @MikeSmith-wx9xe Год назад +13

    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
      @nickfielding5685 Год назад +1

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

  • @leighwagstaff2100
    @leighwagstaff2100 9 месяцев назад

    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 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

  • @hashtag_thisguy
    @hashtag_thisguy 7 месяцев назад +1

    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.

  • @julieg5610
    @julieg5610 Год назад +22

    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
      @georgebarnes8163 Год назад

      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
      @razmataz13drums Год назад

      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
      @georgebarnes8163 Год назад

      @@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
      @fraserwilson227 Год назад +3

      @@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
      @whitehorses460 Год назад

      greggs is horrible greasy ass pastry

  • @suttoncoldfield9318
    @suttoncoldfield9318 Год назад +5

    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.

  • @MRAPEXPREDATOR1
    @MRAPEXPREDATOR1 6 месяцев назад

    Don’t forget as well, we only get one drink as in soft drink. They can refill again and again.

  • @Buddingrose
    @Buddingrose 7 месяцев назад

    We have quarter pounders with cheese and double quarter pounders in the UK and strawberry sundaes. We have ranch with the salads and also at Subway. Our menus change so some special burger’s might have ranch sauce. We have the Philly double cheese burger atm.

  • @grahamsmith9541
    @grahamsmith9541 Год назад +17

    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.

  • @geekelly000
    @geekelly000 Год назад +16

    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
      @beckk8863 Год назад

      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!

  • @davidioanhedges
    @davidioanhedges 6 месяцев назад

    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

  • @TheWebcrafter
    @TheWebcrafter 7 месяцев назад

    3:50 - I totally agree there's a difference between UK and US cup sizes but pay attention to the position of the cups on each table.
    The smaller 'UK' cups are further away from the camera, the larger 'US' cups are nearer to the camera.
    This camera technique is called 'foreshortenng'. Director Peter Jackson, adopted this method during the filming of 'Lord of the Rings' to make the actorrs playing the hobbits appear smaller than other characters within the same shot.

  • @jimnolan830
    @jimnolan830 Год назад +16

    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
      @tullyDT Год назад

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

    • @Unknown-ov2kz
      @Unknown-ov2kz Год назад +1

      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. 🙄