# Foods Americans like that non-Americans find disgusting
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [September 21, 2015, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054 "2015-09-21T01:22:51Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2015, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/1 "2015-09-21T01:22:51Z")
There was a thread on reddit asking about foods that are popular in your country but that are reviled elsewhere.
Most of the foods that non-americans listed were not surprising to me. As far as foods that are popular in the US but unpopular everywhere else, I think the only one I saw was root beer.
Is root beer not liked outside the US? A lot of people said it tasted like cough medicine.
What other foods are liked here in the US but not liked elsewhere?
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### Author:  [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2015, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/2 "2015-09-21T01:34:43Z")
I always heard that Americans are one of the few who like peanut butter.
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### Author:  [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2015, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/3 "2015-09-21T01:36:23Z")
Nm
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### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2015, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/4 "2015-09-21T01:41:49Z")
A recent thread mentioned foreigners recoiling from All-American corn on the cob.
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### Author:  [@Pinmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pinmin)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2015, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/5 "2015-09-21T02:27:41Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#):
>
> A recent thread mentioned foreigners recoiling from All-American corn on the cob.
I understood that to be about the presentation, not the taste. They ate sweet corn, just not on the cob.
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### Author:  [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2015, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/6 "2015-09-21T02:53:02Z")
never mind - wasn’t paying attention!
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### Author:  [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2015, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/7 "2015-09-21T02:56:02Z")
> [@Honey](#):
>
> I always heard that Americans are one of the few who like peanut butter.
Peanut butter is used in Asian cooking .
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### Author:  [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2015, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/8 "2015-09-21T03:17:56Z")
> [@purplehearingaid](#):
>
> Peanut butter is used in Asian cooking .
and African.
Root Beer?
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### Author:  [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2015, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/9 "2015-09-21T03:20:46Z")
My German landlady loved root beer.
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### Author:  [@Cara\_mel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cara_mel)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2015, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/10 "2015-09-21T03:27:37Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#):
>
> A recent thread mentioned foreigners recoiling from All-American corn on the cob.
Corn on the cob is pretty popular here in Australia. Done on the BBQ or just boiled then butter, pepper and garlic salt added.
> [@Honey](#):
>
> I always heard that Americans are one of the few who like peanut butter.
There is one thing that I think Aussies genuinely “recoil” from, and that’s PB & J. Peanut butter is practically a staple food here, but to even think about adding the J part - nah!
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2015, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/11 "2015-09-21T04:19:06Z")
Jello? is that mostly liked by Americans?
made from collagen in pigskin, and that would be a problem in many cultures.
> **[What Exactly Is Jell-O Made From?](https://recipes.howstuffworks.com/j-ello.htm)**
>
> "Watch it wiggle, see it jiggle" Remember that jingle? We're talking about Jell-O, or gelatin. But just how does how does it do that? And what is this stuff made of?
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### Author:  [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2015, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/12 "2015-09-21T04:25:55Z")
Yep, what Cara Mel said.
The pickled cucumbers in a burger are something we’ve slowly got used to if you buy Maccas, but no one would put them in a burger made at home.
I don’t mind A&E Rootbeer but it doesn’t have a market here. They tried to create a market for Dr Pepper here a few years back. Fail
Grape flavoured stuff. Yech.
Corn on the cob - no troubles at all.
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### Author:  [@GreedySmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreedySmurf)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2015, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/13 "2015-09-21T05:00:14Z")
The close cousin of Root Beer, Sarsaparilla is pretty common in Australia.
I agree with **Cara Mel** on the PB&J front. I think maybe part of that, is that Peanut Butter is a lot sweeter in the US. So it maybe goes with sweet Jam (Jelly) better.
I would suggest Cheese in a Can meets the OP. Although I’m not sure how truely popular that is in the States. The thought of eating “cheese” sprayed from a can makes me shudder. :eek:
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### Author:  [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2015, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/14 "2015-09-21T05:10:00Z")
^
Interestingly I thought that the A&E Rootbeer has a similar taste to sarsaparilla but my son thinks I have warped taste buds.:o
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### Author:  [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2015, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/15 "2015-09-21T05:11:10Z")
> [@jasg](#):
>
> Root Beer?
[Taiwan’s version](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarsaparilla_(soft_drink)#/media/File:Sarsaparilla.JPG), Hey Song company’s sarsaparilla drink. I get my root beer fix in Beijing using that or Watson’s sarsaparilla drink called Sarsae.
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### Author:  [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2015, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/16 "2015-09-21T05:34:34Z")
American cheese.
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### Author:  [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2015, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/17 "2015-09-21T06:10:24Z")
> [@Honey](#):
>
> I always heard that Americans are one of the few who like peanut butter.
Great. More for me.
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### Author:  [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2015, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/18 "2015-09-21T06:44:17Z")
All this time and no mention of Hershey’s?
AIUI, the idea of ‘milk chocolate’ is an abomination to most palates.
I certainly despise it.
Has ‘American Cheese’ (imitation cheddar made with vegetable fat instead of milk fat - as oleo margarine is to butter) made inroads?
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### Author:  [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2015, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/19 "2015-09-21T06:48:03Z")
My Danish relatives think American food is too spicy.
Othertimes it isnt the taste as much as the amounts Americans eat. In Denmark they like several small meals instead of 2-3 really big ones.
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2015, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/20 "2015-09-21T06:57:27Z")
> [@aceplace57](#):
>
> Jello? is that mostly liked by Americans?
>
> made from collagen in pigskin, and that would be a problem in many cultures.
> [What Exactly Is Jell-O Made From? | HowStuffWorks](http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/j-ello.htm)
It’s popular in the UK (and has been for a long time) - we call it jelly though.
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