Why do most fastfood items have less calories internaionally?

I went from Holland to the US so can imagine how you feel lol

But it is not only the Fast Food it is also other foods
Yogurt and Milk for example have less calories in Holland. Less sugars too.
Lot of food have less sugar and salt.

Mayonaise a good example lol
Very salty in the US less in Holland. And yes you can indeed eat more in Holland for the same amount of calories

Some explanation to that for people who say milk is milk etc.
It depends what kind of hormones and food a cow get. Like blue fat grass cows produce other milk than cows that eat only hay or corn mixtures etc. And the difference can be as high as 20 calories for a cup of milk or yogurt. So same full milk as in the US.
This is for as far the dairy difference

But meat get not injected with salt ( like the US chicken breasts) or less. The rules for that is heavier in Europe.


A normal thing like an apple in grams even have less calories ( Holland has less sun so the apple is less sweet so less sugar in it)
etc etc lol

The quality of their food is better too, I believe. Man I miss Mcdonalds seasoned potato wedges served with a side of sour cream. Mcdonald's veggie burgers were pretty awesome, too! Everything there seems so much more fresh, and the Mcdonald's Cafe is really nice, too!

As a visitor to the US I would say portion size for sure but also I couldn't get over how sweet normal commercially made bread is in the US. It tastes like dessert buns or something. I had to go to a village market and buy some home made sourdough bread in order to not feel like I was having some revolting dessert salad sandwich. So maybe like said above its the HFCS that seems to go into everything?

You beat me to it - that sweet bread? Ewww... also tons of sugar in spaghetti sauce and that sort of thing - my taste buds don't know what to do with that (they don't like it).

Portion sizes are definitely different. I have visited the US and was amazed. When I use the data base I know I cannot trust the US McDonalds entries, which is why you will see (Aus) in brackets behind many entries. The Australian portions are pretty close to what we experience here in South Africa.

The difference in some things is astounding. Your McFlurries are twice the size and there is cream and stuff on top of the shakes - that is all extra calories.

Any brand that comes here from the US tones it down a bit to suit the local palette.

That's odd! I'm originally from Brazil and I always tell my husband Mcdonalds stuff tastes a lot better there (I swear it does!!), I just checked the nutritional menu in the Brazilian McDonalds site and a Big Mac has 494 calories for example, compared to the US 540 cal or Netherlands 509 cal. I honestly don't remember the burgers being that different in size, only the fries and drinks. The only thing that I know is that we don't really see high fructose corn syrup in food labels there, while here it appears to be in almost anything processed... Maybe that has something to do with it.

As a side-note, a normal Coca-Cola is also WAY sweeter here in the US compared to a Brazilian one.

That's interesting.
I know that Hungry Jacks (Burger King) imports it's french fries from the US. Says so right on the boxes I've seen.
I wonder what the differences are, if any.

Merkavar wrote: »

My guess is size and I believe some countries don't put sugar in their bread.

So is everything American sweetened with sugar?

A lot yes...or rather more sugar.
Dutch bread does have a bit of sugar just less. And dont get me wrong there is bread with more sugar but that is special breads.

And one in particular the so called sugar bread. It is delicious and sticks to your fingers while you eat it lol
But normal bread no. less sugar so less sweet
Also molasses is used less

Yogurt is less sweet

And potatoes have less sugar ( less sun hours so veggies have less sugar in them naturally)

So in a way a lot of food has less calories. Sometimes just a tiny bit, sometimes like with milk and yogurts the difference can be 30 calories a cup.

Per cup is not the same as per 200 ml, in fact expressed per 200 ml the two are the same - 124 * 238 / 200 = 148

if you weigh it in grams it is ( and i did) a glas of milk here 210 gram and in Holland 208 gram
For the same amount.

Less protein in Dutch milk and sugar makes the difference and less fat btw

Everything in fast food is so processed and uses so much salt. I'd assume the sweetness of the sugar is to cut the distinct sodium taste? Idk, whenever I cook, if I over-salt something, I counter it with sugar.