Going for a long stay abroad is both exciting and scary. When you get there, you quickly learn that the language skills you’ve mastered in the classroom aren’t exactly used that way in real life. You’ll run into accents you have hard time understanding and new expressions you don’t know. But it isn’t just a linguistic difference – pop into any supermarket, and you’ll see some other differences there as well.

In the US, the Food and Drug Administration controls what ingredients are permissible in our products. Because each country is different, it makes sense why our products aren’t the same. Did you know that anything less than 60 insect pieces per 100 grams of chocolate is deemed completely safe for consumption by the FDA? Dégueulasse (gross). And that number seems awfully high, but don’t worry: the average chocolate bar contains only 8 insect parts 😉

While the US government agency freely allows high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) to be added to processed foods as a sweetener, the ingredient has been banned in Europe. The debate over HFCS is at large in the US because many consider it to be a major health risk. What does that mean about the foods you can buy abroad? The taste is completely different!

Don’t let any of this concern you – even if they don’t have what you’re looking for, I promise you’ll find products in France that you’ll really like. Enjoy it while you’re there, because you can’t find it all in the stores in the States. I remember finding a body wash I loved in France (Le Petit Marseillais Fleur d’Oranger), so I brought back a few bottles. The last drop was bittersweet. It was as if my time in France was officially over, even if I’d been home for a few months already. Bless the internet, though – I can easily purchase some online.

For today’s post, I’d like to focus on a few products I’ve seen or used in France that I haven’t seen in the US.

1. Blood Orange Diet Coke

Some of your favorite foods and drinks may have different flavors abroad. Just as Japan has green tea KitKats, France also has a diet Coke flavor that hasn’t been introduced in the US: Coca Light Sango. In fact, it’s one of only a few flavors that wasn’t created in Coca-Cola’s headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. Developed in Belgium because they boast the highest diet Coke consumption per capita, this drink gets its name from sang, the French word for blood. And the word light? They use that for “diet” when referring to drinks.

2. Kinder Surprise

Have you had Kinder chocolate? If not, you’re missing out. While the US is indeed allowed to sell other variants of the Kinder brand, the Surprise line is strictly banned. A Kinder Surprise is a chocolate egg with a capsule inside, and inside the capsule is a toy (that generally needs to be assembled). Chocolate AND a toy? Why on earth would anyone ban this? Well, in 1938, the FDA banned “the sale of any candy that has embedded in it a toy or trinket.” This is interesting because I remember when I was a kid, Nestlé had Magic Balls that were hollow chocolate balls with a toy inside. Maybe this was allowed because there was a lot of space extra space between the chocolate and the toy.

There was some lobbying done, though, by parents who claimed the candy was unsafe because of choking hazards. The candy was discontinued and later reissued as Wonderballs and contained candy inside instead of a toy.

3. Yogurt, Milk, and Eggs

All of this is readily available in the US, but not in the same manner. Milk is pasteurized differently in France. They use a process called Ultra High-Temperature Pasteurized (UHT), which heats the milk to 280ºF for 2 seconds. In the US, traditional pasteurizing is done at 165ºF for 15 seconds. When the pasteurized French milk is placed in aspectic packaging, the milk can sit on an unrefrigerated shelf for up to 6 months until opened!

When you go into a supermarket in France and search for eggs, you may be surprised to find they’re not in the refrigerated section, but on a shelf! When a chicken lays an egg, there is a barely visible wax layer that acts as a protector and doesn’t let any bad bacteria inside. In the US, egg producers must wash the egg and, by extension, remove the protective layer. Once that layer is removed, the egg must be chilled to prevent the growth of bacteria.

Looking for yogurt? No problem. Just go down the yogurt aisle. Yes, an entire long aisle. The selection is incredible, and the taste even better. You can even buy yogurt in little glass jars!

4. Vanilla-scented Sugar

Sugar and vanilla is a match made in heaven, and it’s such a common ingredient in French pastries. You can import it online or make it yourself, but if you wanted to find it in a store, you’d need to go a specialty shop. In France, you can buy these in individual packets – and they’re often measured to be just the right amount for a recipe. Super convenient.

5. Lardons

Lardons are matchstick-cut pieces of pork belly you can purchase prepackaged in the refrigerated meats section. They’re often included in stews and fried dishes, and they really add a nice flavor to any dish you put them in. It’s not exactly bacon, but the flavor is indeed similar. In the US, we have matchstick-cut pancetta (pork belly that has been salt cured), but there are 2 things that separate pancetta from lardons: lardons are often cold smoked (fumé) after being salt cured. It is possible to purchase lardons nature (unsmoked), but that doesn’t make it pancetta. You’ll often find pancetta with a peppery coating. If you wash that away, you essentially have unsmoked lardons.

6. Ricoré

Any coffee drinkers out there? Have you tried chicory? It’s made from a blue flower whose roots are ground up and roasted and made into a coffee substitute. You can buy chicory in the US, but not with the Nestlé name brand. I’m not a coffee drinker (sorry, John!), but a friend of mine swears by Ricoré. I’ve had to bring her back a few cans from France when I return back to the US.

7. Haribo Dragibus

Haribo has items for sale in the US – who hasn’t had their gummy bears? Other candies are impossible to come by in stores (I reiterate my remark earlier: bless the internet…), but that’s no excuse to not try these when you get the chance. Haribo has a line of jelly beans called Dragibus that are so, so delicious. The flavors are pretty standard (no buttered popcorn like with Jelly Belly), but they’re definitely worth a taste!

8. Potato Wedges at McDonald’s

Different country, different menu! The US McDonald’s has expanded their sides menu in the past few years. Instead of fries, you can now get apple slices, an orange, yogurt, a side salad, a fruit and yogurt parfait, or mozzarella sticks. Something they haven’t introduced but has been available in France for a long time is les deluxe potatoes (deluxe potatoes – they’re just potato wedges), which are served with une sauce creamy deluxe (notice a lot of English going on in their menus?).

Something else that surprised me was their drink menu – you can wash all of this down with a nice beer! McDonald’s in France offers a French beer called 1664 on their menu.

9. Pommes Dauphines

I have never seen these commercially available in the US, but they’re not hard to make at home. Les pommes dauphines are essentially mashed potatoes mixed with choux pastry dough that are rolled into little balls and fried. It’s such a comforting side dish. The closest thing I can find in the States is McCain’s Smiles. They’re not quite the same, and they’re in the shape of a smiley face, but they’re quite good.

10. Vitamin B17

First discovered by two French chemists in the early 1800s, this vitamin has become the source of controversy. When I was in France on a student visa, I was required to have a medical checkup. The doctor asked if I was taking any medication, and I said the only thing I take is vitamins. She went off on a lecture about how she doesn’t understand why Americans take vitamins when they’re readily available in fresh foods. Of course there’s some truth to what she was saying, but she made it seem as if the French never take vitamins (Not true, by the way. Some definitely do.).

A few years ago, I saw some clickbait article online about vitamin B17. It’s made from the pits of apricots and supposedly has cancer-fighting properties. It was first proposed as a cancer fighter in the 1970s and was later banned by the Food and Drug Administration in 1977. Some people claim it was a result of the pharmaceutical companies blocking it to keep their sales high. Those who support the ban say this vitamin may release cyanide in the blood.

The debate about how effective it is is still going strong, but there is one thing we do know for sure: you cannot purchase vitamin B17 in the USA, but you can find it in France.

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And as a final side note: The US also has products that are near impossible to come by in France. I lived there for over 2 years and never found any squash besides pumpkin. And kale? Forget it.

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What products have you tried in France but can’t find at home?