An American man living in Britain has shared his shock at five major differences between grocery shopping in Britain and at home.
Kobie Jordan, a TikTok content creator known as @kjordyyy, often explores the cultural contrasts between the two countries, both through street interviews with Brits and by sharing his own experiences online.
In one video uploaded in August, titled “Grocery shopping in London as an American,” Jordan shared his observations while grocery shopping at his local Sainsbury’s supermarket.
While filming his visit, the content creator selected specific items while weighing the pros and cons of the varieties available in supermarkets in both countries.
The first thing that caught Jordan off guard was the sight of unrefrigerated eggs as he panned his camera to dozens of boxes neatly stacked on the shelves.
He said, “One of the first things that threw me off: the eggs aren’t refrigerated.
‘Funnily enough, I found that the eggs lasted much longer than when I kept them in the fridge. For me, I put them on top of the microwave.”
Jordan then noted that British supermarkets appear to sell food in much smaller portions than their American counterparts, adding: “In Britain you shop a lot more often, but you buy in smaller quantities.”
Kobie Jordan, a TikTok content creator known as @kjordyyy, has shared his shock at five major differences between grocery shopping in Britain and at home in the United States
Pointing out that bulk purchases of giant spice bottles, for example, were almost impossible to find in British stores, he joked: ‘You can’t really buy things in bulk. You can’t buy ketchup the size of a compact car here.”
Fresh produce in Britain also confused Jordan when he showed bags of potatoes, radishes and ready-to-eat lettuce as examples with a shelf life of just a few days.
Displaying the items’ expiration dates of August 11 and 8, he explained: ‘Fresh produce has a quicker shelf life than at home. At the time we’re filming this, it’s August 7th.’
‘Most won’t last more than three days, but at home our products are packed with preservatives.’
Pointing his camera at crates of baked beans stacked from the floor to the highest shelf in an aisle, he joked, “But the bean section obviously has no shortages and was ironically the most stocked item.”
One aspect of British supermarkets that Jordan praised was the absence of hidden taxes.
He said, ‘What you see is what you buy. So if something costs €2.75, you pay €2.75.
“At home, there’s nothing worse than doing your entire shopping and then realizing, ‘Add 6% tax’ on everything you buy.”
The first thing that caught Jordan off guard was the sight of unrefrigerated eggs as he panned his camera to dozens of boxes neatly stacked on the shelves.
Jordan’s observations sparked a lively discussion among viewers, with more than 900 Brits, Americans and even viewers from other countries sharing their thoughts.
Regarding Jordan’s observation about taxed goods, a bewildered Brit asked, “Why can’t America just put the full price you pay on things, can’t that be that hard?”
About products, a Briton wrote: ‘Our products are not full of preservatives, but are fresh. Britain has to import everything so it has a shorter lifespan
Another commented: ‘If a ‘fresh’ product lasts longer, it’s probably for good reason.’
A third wrote: ‘The reason why plastic wrapped fruit/vegetables in the US last longer is simply because the US fills the bags with nitrogen and not ‘air’ which also contains oxygen and is stored in the fridge at the store .’
Meanwhile, commentators explained that in the US, eggs are washed to remove the protective membrane, which requires refrigeration, while in Britain the eggs are left untreated, allowing them to be safely stored at room temperature.
Regarding his observation about eggs, one Brit wrote: “Eggs aren’t in the fridge, but everyone I know, including myself, puts them in the fridge as soon as they get home.”
Another viewer, who claims to live in Africa, said: ‘We don’t cool eggs in Africa either. It’s only in the US and I wonder why?
Jordan’s observations sparked a lively discussion among viewers, with more than 900 Brits, Americans and even viewers from other countries sharing their thoughts
However, on American wrote: ‘Americans wash the membrane of the egg that needs to be cooled. We do everything backwards.’
Some viewers, meanwhile, warned Jordan that storing eggs on top of the microwave was a bad idea due to the heat exposure, with one writing: ‘Don’t put anything on top of your microwave, it will heat up every time it gets hot afterwards. any use.”
It comes after an American woman living in Britain revealed the classic British sweets she can’t stomach – much to the dismay of her followers online.
Lisa Dollan is originally from Georgia in the United States, but moved to Yorkshire after falling in love with her now husband Paul after they met at a business conference in 2009.
Through TikTok, where she has amassed more than 1.2 million followers under her leadership Yorkshire Peach, Lisa shared common British confections that she didn’t like.