Taste is subjective, there’s no doubt about that. Controversial foods exist, that’s a fact too. Now combine them together, and you see some weird food combos landing in people’s stomachs.

This time, we will narrow down our investigation into American cuisine only (despite the fact all countries have their culinary quirks!) to find out what common eating habits and foods confuse non-Americans. Turns out there are many of them!

From super-size meaty breakfasts to cheese spread, these are the most eyebrow-raising American delicacies people in other countries just can’t fathom.

#1

Sweet potato and marshmallow casserole. What the actual f**k?

Image credits: 98thRedBalloon

#2

Hersheys chocolate. Honestly tastes like the smell of vomit.

Image credits: Cottonmustard

#3

Cookie Dough in a tube, which you guys apparently eat raw, according to the movies. Obviously I have no idea what this stuff tastes like (I can only assume it's awesome), but the concept just seems strange to my Scottish mind.

Having said that, we consume assorted animal innards, oats and spices in a tube allegedly made from a sheeps bladder (aka haggis), so I admit that we're on pretty shaky ground to be criticising anyone else's eating habits.

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#4

Aerosol Cheese. Seriously America, what the f**k?

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#5

The fact that I ordered one pound of corned beef hash, three eight-inch pancakes with butter and maple syrup, four scrambled eggs with ketchup, six strips of bacon, four sausage links, three pieces of toast, and endless coffee for $12 at a diner. That was my breakfast while visiting the states. I love America.

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#6

American bread. I lived in the states for six months. At one point shortly after moving, I bought a loaf of bread and made a sandwich. To my surprise, the bread was so sweet. I told my housemates that I accidentally bought dessert bread, but nope — it was just regular bread in America.

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#7

Processed cheese. There are so many lovely actual cheese, why eat s***ty fake stuff?

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#8

A friend visited me from Italy and wanted to try Krispy Kreme donuts. He took one bite and said, 'Now I understand why Americans are fat!' He made me take him back twice for more.

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#9

Lobster is not odd in itself, but seeing “lobster mac’n’cheese” was wierd. Where I’m from, lobster is expensive, exclusive, and considered fine dining, and mac’n’cheese does not exist as a dish you can order anywhere. I love pasta, I love cheese, so pasta with cheese is common in my own kitchen, but that is far away from that “fine dining” lobster.

My first time in the states was a trip to NYC. I was pregnant at the time, and that’s probably why I allowed myself to order lobster mac’n’cheese for lunch at a restaurant, against my husbands comments on how it was a shame for the lobster to be served like that ... it was bloody delicious. I still dream about it.

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#10

The felt obsession with anything deep-fried is unnerving to me. There's a good few things that are excellent deep-fried, don't get me wrong, but putting literally anything in batter and frying it seems...wrong.

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#11

Grits. What the f**k even is grits? It sounds like the most unappetising thing ever. "I had grits for breakfast" WHY ARE YOU EATING TINY ROCKS?

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#12

Not the food but the sheer size of the soft drinks is off putting and I'm from Canada.

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#13

Ranch dressing. Why don't you people want to taste the actual salad you're eating?

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#14

Granola as a "healthy" breakfast option. It's basically a dessert.

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#15

I had a friend who would get physically sick at any mention of Hamburger Helper.

As an American, I think he's nuts.

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#16

Boxed macaroni and cheese. My partner is Swiss, and he is appalled by Kraft Mac & Cheese. He could not believe I was looking forward to ingesting orange powder mixed with noodles.

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#17

A friend of mine brought back loads of American sweets from holiday. The Hershey's chocolate kisses were one of the worst things I've ever eaten. I thought I was going to be sick.

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#18

Pop tarts, or God forbid microwaving your water when you have a cup of tea

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#19

High fructose corn syrup.

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#20

Mayonnaise on everything but French fries — use butter you savages.

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#21

Not exactly *a* food, but breakfasts in general.

When I was there they looked at me like I was a starving child from the woods with my coffee and toast. MY BODY CAN'T DIGEST CHILI CON CARNE IN THE MORNING, I'M SORRY I'M NOT THAT MAGICAL.

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#22

I have a British friend who nearly vomited at the smell of Smartfood White Cheddar popcorn.... you know, the kind that comes in the black bag? He said it smells like baby s**t.

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#23

Casseroles made with "cream of" anything soup. Green bean casserole, tuna casserole, mushroom casserole. I know what those Campbells soups are like, we get them over here, and the idea of using them as a constituent ingredient in a main meal makes me shudder just from the idea of the sodium bomb. Especially those casseroles that are suggested to be topped with crushed chips.

Peanut butter and jam (jelly) sandwiches I can get behind. Pumpkin pie was a revelation of awesomeness for a new dimension on what to me is normally a savoury veg. Chicken-fried steak and sausage gravy? Genius.

But the idea of those casseroles make my stomach turn every time.

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#24

Chicago style deep-dish pizza. Great for the first two bites, but any more than that and I start to feel like my arteries are about to detonate.

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#25

Multiple Europeans I've met have been baffled by the popularity of root beer in America. As they say, it tastes like medicine.

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#26

I'm American but no one can pay me to try/eat Spam.

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#27

Pumpkin Spice Latte. It was just like REALLY sweet coffee, I didn't get the craze.

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#28

My German brother-in-law lost his mind at the concept of American 'all you can eat' buffets. He was like, 'All of this...all one price? ALL of it?' He was amazed by it.

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#29

For me, it's not so much a particular 'American' food that I find bizarre, but rather the portion sizes. I'm Australian, and I was raised to eat everything on my plate. I brought that mentality to the US, and I put on 5 kg in over a month. The portion sizes are obscene. I could hardly finish a meal there without feeling ill from eating to much.

#30

My japanese roommate screamed when she saw me eating carrots & celery dipped in peanut butter

#31

The way they eat apple sauce.

Over here in the UK you would have a very small portion of it with some pork. It's just a condiment.

In the US they would pretty much have an entire bowl of the stuff and would just put spoonful after spoonful of it into their mouthes. It's like a snack or a meal itself.

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#32

When I first moved here a few years back, biscuits and gravy weirded me out the most, but I have grown to enjoy it. Still looks like vomit, though.

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#33

Those coated hot dogs on sticks. I've seen them in movies, they look really weird.

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#34

Anything sandwiched between donuts or assembled and then fried to finish.

#35

Taco Bell.

They tried to open one over here and it lasted about a week. Don't try to sell Taco Bell to Mexicans. Just don't.

#36

Met some Swiss guys at a house party after a mutual friends wedding. They couldn't believe that we were all actually drinking out of red Solo cups, it blew their minds. They kept on taking pictures and saying "It's just like the movies!

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#37

American desserts. I lived in the states for three years, and the amount of sugar Americans dump into their desserts is mind-blowing. They were beautiful to look at, but they were sweet as hell.

#38

Even the basic foods like bread, fruits, spreadable butter and cream taste so.. blargh. So artificial and unfresh.

#39

Waffles with chicken. It just seems so wrong.

#40

Canadian here... American soda. You can taste the corn syrup. All of my American friends drink Mexican Coke or that 'throwback' pop with sugar instead of corn syrup.

#41

Marshmallows somehow being a spreadable substance.

#42

My European family and friends are horrified by Southern grits. I can't even get anyone to try it.

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#43

An overwhelming percentage of espresso-based beverages I have been served in the US have tasted like bitter, burnt a*****e. Commonly at Starbucks but also at smaller coffee houses. I love that Americans are big on drip coffee, I feel like it's underrated and not widely available here.. but you guys need to work on the espresso thing.

Also, last time this thread came up, I listed pumpkin pie and had literally hundreds of angry Americans in my inbox with everything from death threats to their grandmother's secret pie recipe. As an Australian, where we use pumpkin as a vegetable, I've since tried it but it's just weird to me.

#44

Cupcakes. I love the idea of having a cute little muffin-like cake, but then you slap ridiculous amounts of sweet cream on top, that is sticky, way too sweet and is of wierd texture. And on top of that, there is often more cream then cake. That's not a good ratio and it starts sticking to your gums. Very difficult to eat and overall not a pleasent experiance.

#45

At an old job, a German exchange intern asked me "why I drank beer during lunch", told me root beer tasted like cough medicine after I bought him his first one, and then I didn't talk to him ever again because I realized we would never truly understand one another.

#46

Not only the unusual combination of peanut butter and jelly, but also the sheer amount of peanut butter that Americans eat.

#47

As an Australian, I would like to know what in the flying firetruck a "Bloomin' Onion" has to do with anything, let alone the rest of Outback Steakhouse's menu.

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#48

Cornflakes — I'm not a farm animal, damn it. Quit feeding me corn and sugar mulch.

#49

That super-sweet iced Tea. Maybe that's just a southern thing though.

#50

The cereal selection. It's my favorite dessert in America.

#51

Coke as breakfast drink

#52

rocky mountain oysters

#53

Twinkies.

#54

Any kind of cheese in a can

#55

Tootsie rolls!

#56

The amount of sugar in American cereal. I could never tell if it was a layer of mold or solid sugar on those Froot Loops.

#57

My Japanese teacher in high school always has her Japanese exchange students try root beer and they always hate it. Made one cry once because of how awful she thought it was

#58

I can't get over all those weird fusion foods that are so popular in America, like burgers topped with deep-fried mac and cheese for buns, sushi burritos, taco pizza, etc.

Image credits: hcheesegrater

#59

I'm convinced that the KFC Double-down is the biggest reason people hate America

#60

Beef jerky is too chewy and gives me rotten indigestion.

#61

Mint-flavored candies, like York Peppermint Patties. I live in Japan now, and most people I've met here hate mint-flavored things. I gave one to a friend, and he said it was the grossest thing he's ever had...tasted like eating toothpaste.

#62

Not me but we have very good family friends in/from Botswana. My mom tells me that the idea of eating lobster, to them, is disgusting and scary, because they look like scorpions.

#63

I don't understand PB&J.

#64

Your Yellow f**ken cheese, that's not cheese!!! you f*****s put it on everything. Im sure i have seen it offered on top of ice cream. of and your coffee sucks as well.... but i love America, its real diverse and a great place for travelling.

#65

Deep dish pizza. This creation is not pizza. It is disrespectful to the Italian culture, especially Neapolitans. Deep-dish completely ruins what pizza is meant to be.

#66

The way Americans take coffee to-go. My partner's Italian mother absolutely can't get over the idea of seeing people walk around holding coffees. Americans are the only ones who don't enjoy their coffee while seated at a café.

#67

Mixing sweet and salty foods, like honey-baked ham, pineapple on pizza, frosty fries, corn bread, and then pouring super-sweet soda over all your meals as you eat them... Even after 17 years in the states I still can't do it, f***ers drink some kind of flavored soda with everything, but when I order club soda (soda without flavoring) with my meals they all look at me like I just took a p**s in my cup before drinking it....

#68

American jam (jelly) doughnuts are filled with strawberry, Aussie ones are filled with Raspberry.

Every thing there is sort of the same, but slightly wrong, like uncanny valley.

#69

California cheese ist awful. Visconsin cheese is very good, though.