(Editor’s note: This is Pt. 1 of a two-part post about Europe’s food culture.)
Expats living for any amount of time in Europe will quickly become food snobs. But is it actually “snobbery” to expect stricter regulations for your food, antibiotic-free meat and bread that actually goes bad? I’d argue no.
If I had to live on only two staples for the rest of my life, I’d choose bread and cheese. But if you give me store-bought Wonder bread and American cheese slices, I’d rather starve. Since experiencing fresh baguettes and specialty cheeses while studying abroad in France, I’ve been hooked and I’ve never looked back.
Now, after a decade of living full-time in Europe, I take for granted the abundance of cheese varieties, fresh bread and purer ingredients.
On trips back to the United States., I’m brought instantly back to reality.
The differences in European food culture aren’t only seen in the food quality. It’s also about how people buy food and how they consume it. Moving to Europe will change a lot of things about you and one of the main things is your eating habits.
While the United States saw a reversal of its long-standing trade surplus for the last three years, the European Union had a trade surplus in agricultural, fish, food and beverage products in 2023, with exports totaling 220 billion euros and imports 178 billion euros, according to Eurostat.
Farms still cover a lot of the EU, making up 38.4 percent of the land area, and it still has a mix of industrial and smaller-scale farming.
The fact that these small farms still exist means that you can get fresh-from-the-farmer products and not just at farmers’ markets. I’ve bought eggs around Europe at little roadside self-service stands. I’ve bought unpasteurized whole milk directly from dairy farms in Belgium. I’ve stopped at little farms in the Pyrenees after seeing a queso en venta (cheese for sale) sign to buy artisanal cheese.
These experiences highlight some of the differences in the food culture in Europe, compared to North America, where large-scale industrial farming is the norm and the USDA still allows questionable additions to consumer products.
Let’s look at some of the highlights of European food culture that you’ll marvel at when moving to Europe and then just as quickly, take for granted:
Bread that goes bad
While this may signal a bad thing to many Americans, it is indeed a good thing. When bread stays fresh for more than a week — without getting stale, hard or moldy — its quality can’t be great. My partner likes to call American bread “cotton candy” and he’s not wrong. This fluffy, light bread is packed with preservatives to prolong its shelf life.
When you move to Europe, you start to have a different standard for bread: crusty on the outside and dense on the inside. You often hear the salesperson say that the bread can’t be sliced or the bag can’t be sealed. Why? Because it’s been recently baked and is still too warm.
Sure, fluffier bread still exists, but it still goes bad relatively quickly. But one thing I’m sure of is that I’ll take a shorter shelf life any day if it gets me great quality bread.
Amazing cheeses
Cheeses are one of my weaknesses. Despite price inflation during the past decade, I can luckily still stock up on cheese in the Netherlands without breaking the bank with prices like these: camembert for 2.99 euros, brie for 2.75 euros and a ball of fresh mozzarella for 1.79 euros. In France, I bet you’ll find cheaper options than these.
Cheeses here are less processed and contain fewer additives. While in the U.S., some shredded and processed cheeses contain cellulose (derived from wood pulp) to prevent clumping, as well as dye. The use of these additives in the EU is not generally permitted and would be seen as crazy to do so. Europeans would quickly turn their nose up at the uber-processed, bright orange American cheese slices.
One exception to this might be Norwegian brunost, a brown-colored cheese. However, the color in this traditional cheese comes from the caramelized whey, rather than food coloring. It may look odd, but it’s delicious.
Antibiotic-free and more free-range meat
If you’re eating meat in Europe, you can be sure that you are saying “no” to a dose of antibiotics.
In Europe, the use of antibiotics in meat production is strictly regulated to prevent antibiotic resistance and ensure food safety. Since 2006, the EU has prohibited the use of antibiotics to promote growth in livestock and since 2022, it has banned the routine use of antibiotics for disease prevention in groups of animals. Treated animals must go through a withdrawal period to make sure no antibiotic residues remain in the meat.
European cattle farms tend to be smaller and EU regulations make sure that high-density feedlots are less common. Cows in the EU tend to be more often grass-fed and/or free-range, compared to grain-fed cows in the U.S.
Clear rules about eggs
While many countries denote the quality of the egg (like Grade AA by the USDA), they still rely on marketing terms for farming conditions. Consumers must rely on labels like “cage-free” and “free-range.”
While the number is declining, approximately 60 percent of eggs in the U.S. are still from caged birds. The EU has banned conventional battery cages since 2012, but enriched cages are still allowed in some countries. Countries such as Switzerland, Luxembourg, Austria, Germany and Belgium are enacting even stricter legislation.
Eggs sold in Europe must be stamped with a number that denotes the conditions of the chickens:
- “0” shows that it’s organic, free-range and antibiotic-free.
- “1” is free-range and cage-free.
- “2” is barn-raised, but cage-free.
- “3” is for caged chickens.
Cleaner food ingredients
As you’ve already seen in this list, Europe has stricter regulations when it comes to food production and ingredients. Certain artificial sweeteners, food colorants (E124 and E110), preservatives, growth hormones, trans fats and pesticides are restricted or severely limited. This is always a plus in my book.
On trips back to the U.S., I find it hard to avoid foods with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). It’s literally in everything! Heinz ketchup and Coca-Cola are made with it. Cookies, cakes, you name it, it has HFCS in it.
Fly to Europe and you’ll see a lot fewer products made with high fructose corn syrup. This is not only due to strict EU regulations on the use of HFCS, but it is also more expensive here due to import restrictions on corn syrup and there is lower demand from consumers due to health concerns. As a result, sugar (particularly beet sugar or regular ol’ cane sugar) is preferred in food products.
On European shelves, the same branded products are not the “same” at all. Heinz ketchup contains sugar by default. Ditto for Coca-Cola.
The packaging is similar, but don’t be fooled.
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Read more about Europe’s food culture here in Dispatches’ archives.
Lane Henry is an accidental long-term expat. She is an American who came to the Netherlands for two years—or so she thought. She has now lived in the Netherlands and explored Europe for over a decade.
