Observations
While spending a month in Europe eating loads of pasta, pizza, and other carb-heavy foods, you may be wondering why you don’t feel extremely full or bloated after every meal. How can we dine out several times a day on our travel weekends and not grow sick of it? For me, I can feel full for several hours after going to a restaurant simply because the dishes are dense and of a large portion size. In reference to the dining hall food, we were served pasta twice a day accompanied by bread and sometimes even pizza. In American diet culture, that many carbohydrates is a big no simply because of how unhealthy it is. To rephrase, in America, the food is seen as unhealthy. Yet these same dishes are very prevalent in Italian culture and pose very few problems for digestive health. The following paragraphs will detail why Italian cuisine affects us differently.
American vs European Food Polices
Most Americans are aware that the United States is not known for its fresh and healthy foods. Instead, processed products are put on the shelves for us to mindlessly buy. Across the pond, however, Europeans are opting for fresh poultry over individually sliced meat, blanketed under a plastic cover, locally baked loaves instead of bright white Wonder bread. This raises the question, why are countries of similar status prioritizing food production in opposite directions?
The main difference between Europe’s food administration compared to the United States lies within their philosophies as to what allergens, preservatives, and additives are allowed on the market. The US exhibits a hands-off approach of innocence until proven guilty, allowing new ingredients on the market after minimal testing unless proven harmful. EFSA, in contrast, requires that additives be proven safe before being approved, made evident when viewing European food labels. All in all, Europe has stricter laws limiting the amount of chemicals put into food than in the United States. EFSA’s proactive approach also impacts American brands wanting to export their products into Europe. Due to the high amount of additives in most foods, companies such as Kellogg’s, Quaker, and Pepsi all produce safer alternatives overseas while making inferior versions to sell in the US.
Other Factors
Other contributing factors to the differing overall health in both the United States and Europe can be pointed towards general lifestyle. In European countries, communities are more accessible for walking. Except for big cities in the US, civilization is more spread out, however, and contributes to a more sedentary lifestyle. There are also major differences in portion sizes, partially due to the money-hungry minds of US companies. The term, “bigger is better” can be applied to a large amount of consumer goods in America, and food is not an exception! Sadly, this issue accounts for a large amount of food waste. In contrast, portion sizes in Europe are much smaller and contain more nutrients and fresh ingredients, satisfying consumers’ hunger without wasting large portions of food.
Conclusion
To put it into simple terms, the United States puts a lot more chemicals in our food that cause us to feel fuller and more bloated during meals. Luckily, if you have grown up in the United States most of your life, your digestive system doesn’t have as hard of a time breaking down the food as a foreigner may experience. This blog isn’t to talk negatively about food in America, but rather explain the logistics behind a common experience when studying abroad. I have personally witnessed this topic n discussion at lunch and I thought others may wish to be informed of the answers as well.