Regarding eggs - eggs naturally have a coating on the exterior of the shell that seals the shell and prevents air from getting inside. In France (and many other countries), eggs are sold with the coating intact, thus no refrigeration is required. In the U.S., however, by law eggs must be washed prior to sale (which removes the protective coating). Without the coating, the egg shell is porous and air can get in. Thus, in the U.S., eggs need to be refrigerated in order to not spoil.
Greetings from Germany, same situation over here. Just wanted to post a similar response because the description in the video could give the impression that the „protective coating“ is something that is added to the eggs over here, whereas actually the opposite is true: the naturally existing coating isn’t removed like it is in the States. When inspecting eggs before purchasing, you will often see an occasional feather or bits of brown residue that look like excrement. Until recently, our eggs had two dates printed on the packaging, one was the „refrigerate after“ date and the other was the „best until“ date. The refrigerate after date seems to have disappeared as of late, leaving us a bit uncertain about how to interpret the only remaining date.
Colored, scented toilet paper & facial tissues were common in the U.S.A. up until sometime in the late 80's or maybe 90's. I remember growing up with it, shades of pink, blue, green, & lavender!
Wow! I have a vague memory of pink tissues in the 90s, but no recollection of blue/green. Fascinating. I wonder what caused the shift, and why it's now so much more uncommon in the USA.
I just looked and there are a lot of online articles about the causes! Seems like a host of reasons including design preference for natural colors, the awareness of the dangers of dye on health and environment also. These days it could be made with healthier plant dyes I would assume.
Everything is healthier in Europe. When you bite on a vegetable or fruit, you actually taste the flavor; here is like the flavor is diluted somehow. We have the worst food in the world here in the US! No wonder we’re the sickest population.
It really is wild. I don't think I fully understood the extent of this until I moved abroad. You don't realize it as much when you're "in it", but once you witness another food system and way of life your entire perspective changes.
The biggest offender is anything containing flour or "sugar" in the us. GMO flour is garbage for the body and so is high fructose corn syrup. The elimination diet fads in the US come about simply because the ingredients are so terrible, designed for cheap and fast production. Food in France is literally a form of healthcare you don't get in the US.
Most of the things on the list work similarly across European countries, there are not France specific only, except the non-refrigerated milk and eggs. Great video.
Une différence que tu as oubliée : en France, devant les caisses, on te vend des sacs en toile de jute réutilisables et solides mais tu dois y mettre tes courses toi-même, alors qu'aux USA, c'est le contraire : le/la caissier/caissière doit ranger les courses pour toi mais dans des sacs en papier qui se déchirent dans tes mains au premier coup de vent venu.
Thank you 🥰 Hopefully more people will show up to this party. For now, it's a quiet wine and cheese hour with light jazz music. We'll reach the wild all-night disco rager eventually... 🪩
Certainly not a dairy expert, but.. Eggs have a “bloom” or “cuticle” which is a coating on the outside which helps make the otherwise porous shell impervious. Since bacteria can’t really get into eggs through the cuticle (not easily, but they can), eggs WITH the cuticle are safe at room temperature. Here in the US, it is required that the eggs be washed to remove/kill any bacteria, but that removes the cuticle, and so the exposed shells are now porous, and must be refrigerated to keep them fresh. You got it with the milk; it is ultra heat pasteurized which theoretically kills EVERYTHING which makes the milk safe to store at room temperature (if sealed, that is). But the flip side is that here in the US, there's a health movement towards RAW dairy products (including milk) because the heat treatment destroys certain nutrients and “good” bacteria. The amusing thing is that you can often more easily find raw dairy products (like cheeses) outside of the US that are not legal to be sold here. As for TP, I'm an old guy, and I do remember when I was a kid, colored and scented toilet paper was common. Essentially, you'd get typically pastel colors to go with your decor. As someone else said, health concerns about the typically harmful dyes and scents made people switch to white paper (which is typically bleached, so it isn’t necessarily that great, either). Also, people are conditioned to think of bright white as “clean” and darker shades as “dirty” so they naturally think of white toilet paper as somehow being cleaner. I'm not positive, but I believe that in France, you have to deposit a coin to get a shopping cart (you definitely do most places in Germany) which you then get back when you return the cart. Not generally the case here in the US. Self-checkout is becoming far more common here in the US; our local Whole Foods got rid of a bunch of cashier lanes and replaced them with 6 self-checkout stands. Unlike in France, you're not weighing your produce at the produce stand, but you ARE weighing and selecting it when you self-checkout. Food in general seems to be a lot cheaper in Europe and much better quality. A halfway decent croissant or pain au chocolate here in the US (from a bakery, not packaged in the grocery store - I said halfway decent) is probably around $5 or more. Go to any corner bakery in Paris (not including some of those overpriced touristy spots) and you’ll pay maybe a buck and a half (was about a Euro when I was last there a year ago, but… inflation).
The thing that always blows me away in French grocery stores is the selection of yogurt. So many kinds!! And it tastes so much better and creamier than American yogurt. I love diary so I’m very happy there. I also love getting printed toilet paper in Paris to complement the tile in my WC. Great vid!
Oh yes, the yogurt section is wild! Such a party. The French really do love dairy. And wow, props to you for bringing a whole new design element/detail to your WC.
From a french point of view, thanks for the video. Very informative and refreshing :) I think colored/printed/scented toilet paper are just a remnant of the past. There must be some old people still buying them, but I wouldn't bet it will still be on shelfs 10 years from now. About the 500€ wine bottle in Monoprix, it really depends on the manager of the wine section. Buying expensive wine in a supermarket is generally not a good idea, because the storage may not be optimal, but if the manager is a wine geek you may find genuinely good bottles, well stored, and not necessarily overpriced. (second though : it's in le marais, it may be genuinely overpriced). Orange juice makers are kind of new, I don't remember them 10 years ago. Now they're everywhere. It's great though. Keep going, I'll keep watching you !
French American here. I live in CA and can find mimolette at Costco. So, no, it has not been banned. It is primarily raw milk cheeses that are banned. I used to be able to buy reblochon until 10+ years ago, but this is now impossible. Likewise, Pont Leveque used to be sold in the US (I even bought one made by a cousin 30+ years ago), but it is now incredibly hard to find it (I can but I think the merchant maybe skirting US laws). Also, Wasa crispbreads are the substitute French people use for crackers (they are much better actually).
Bulk sections in some US supermarkets have "weigh and tag" stations. Winco has a huge bulk section, but they have twist ties that you label with a code that the cashier uses during check out. Also, I assume France doesn't use numeric produce stickers?
Yes! Before moving to France, the bulk section was the only place I weighed products in store. But oftentimes that was just to confirm the amount, and the "official" weighing occurred at the register. Also, I've never been to a Winco! There are so many grocery store chains in the US, it's pretty wild.
The toilet paper thing - they used to have colored and scented toilet tissue here in Canada back in the 70's, but they later banned it. The chemicals could cause cancer.
