Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Images
Topics: Food and Drink, Community, YouTube
Gerrard Kaonga
Breakfast is often considered the most important meal of the day, and some Americans have been stunned at what some parts of the world are eating for it.
It is hard to pinpoint when your love for cereal develops as a child, but for most of us it just became a thing.
Before the school rush or for those lazy Saturday mornings, a bowl of cereal... well, it just kind of has to get consumed.
Whether you are one of those absolutely insane people who pour the milk before the cereal, or you are a normal functioning member of society like the rest of us, most people love a cheeky bowl.
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But it is sometimes easy to forget that the rest of the world might not have cereal the same way as Americans, in that the appearance and taste may vary widely even when buying the same brands.
One Reddit post compared the colors of Canadian and American fruit loops, and the difference were obvious to spot.
The US cereal (on the right) was judged to be 'more vibrant' while the Canadian version was 'less bright, but more natural looking'. The UK version was described as 'four shades of beige'.
TikTok creator Joseph DeBenedictis also compared the US and Canadian versions of Fruit Loops, saying the US ones looked 'like candy', while the Canadian ones looked 'like oatmeal'.
An Insider Food YouTube video also got some breakfast lovers talking and has left some Americans scratching their head at the surprising differences when it compared US and UK cereal.
The video sees the host trying different brands from the US and UK, some simply the regional variation of the same cereal.
They also found the US bags of cereal were much bigger, with the biggest UK bag of cereals having 9.5 servings and the largest US one having 15.
The UK also seems to have a lot fewer flavor options too, with multiple exclusive flavors available here in the US but not the UK.
One stunned YouTuber commented: “You guys are ignoring the fact that cereal in the UK is considerably healthier than cereal in the US due to high fructose corn syrup not being added.”
Another said: “As a kid I was upset my Mom would not let me eat any of these cereals. As an adult, I am so thankful. It blows me away how much sugar is in cereal, even the 'healthy' ones."
A third added: “It's insane to me the number of breakfast foods that are banned in other countries but are widely available here.”
While another commented: “There are so many unnecessary flavors in the US lol, just add cinnamon or fruit to regular ones if you want.”
One of the clearest reasons for the differences is the laws surrounding food production outside of the US.
American food products can often appear brighter and more colorful due to the fact that they have food dyes and colorings added during manufacturing.
However, elsewhere in the world, many of these food dyes are banned or heavily restricted due to the possibility they can cause hyperactivity, cancer and other health issues.
Among the most scrutinized dyes in the food and beverage industry are Red 3, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6.
Just this month the FDA confirmed that agency will phase out the use of eight artificial food dyes in America’s food supply within the next two years.
So you might not have the colors of your cereals jumping out at you as much in the next few years, but due to the negative health implications that might not exactly be a bad thing.