An American man who lives in the UK has a unique perspective about our shopping habits, and the differences between the two nations is startling.
Kobie Jordan, who posts on TikTok via his @kjordyyy account is no stranger to posting the ways in which the UK differs to the US.
But now, he’s given us five things to think about when we next take a trip to the supermarket.
Unrefrigerated eggs
The first thing that made him pause was our unrefrigerated eggs.
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If you didn’t know, the US put their eggs right in the fridge to keep fresh, whereas we don’t need to do that here.
He noted: “One of the first things that threw me off: the eggs are not refrigerated.
“Funny enough, I found the eggs last way longer than when I used to refrigerate them. For me, I put them on top of the microwave.”
Portion sizes
It’s no surprise to us that the US has bigger portions than us as any Brit who ventures across the pond will comment on the super-sized meals and products.
For Jordan, he shared: “The UK, you shop way more often, but you buy in smaller quantities.
“You can't really buy things in bulk. Here, you can't buy ketchup the size of compact cars.”
Fresh food expires quicker
He then went on to share that our fresh produce has a shorted expiration date than food in the US, because the produce over there ‘is pumped with so much preservatives.’
At the time of his filming it was 7 August, but the dates in the fresh food aisle were showing anywhere between the 8th and the 11th, making the window for eating the foods very small.
No bulk buying
The next thing Jordan noticed that in the UK, you ‘can’t really buy things in bulk’ as our shelves do not contain as much produce, nor are the containers as big.
However, he joked that our baked beans have ‘no shortages’ and ‘was ironically the item that had the most stock.'
No hidden taxes
Unlike the US, when you see the price on your food, that’s what you’re going to pay.
The TikToker said: “What you see is what you buy. So, if something is £2.75, you're going to leave paying £2.75.
“Back home, there's nothing worse than doing your whole shop and then realising, ‘Add 6% tax’ to anything you buy.”
People were baffled by the differences he noted, particularly when it came to the tax thing.
Someone asked: “Why can’t America just put the full price you pay on things, can’t be that difficult??”
Another person wrote about the fresh foods we have: “Our produce isn't full of preservatives, it's fresh. the UK has to import everything so it has a shorter life span”.
Someone else agreed: “If a ‘fresh’ product lasts longer it probably isn't for a good reason.”
A user went on to explain why people in the US can’t leave their eggs out of the fridge due to the washing process which removes the protective membrane.
Our eggs aren’t washed, and therefore are protected from the elements.
The more you know.
Topics: US News, UK News, Food And Drink, TikTok
Britt Jones