I'm an American living in the UK... here is the TRUTH about who has the better food

An American who moved to the UK has given her verdict on who has the better food.

Olivia Carney is originally from North Carolina but moved to Manchester with her husband Dane last year.

Posting under her TikTok handle @oliviacarneyx, where she boasts more than 13,000 followers, the American regularly makes videos documenting the cultural differences she's noticed since making the move.

In a recent clip, she responded to a viewer who asked: 'Could you do a video on why you prefer the UK?'

The influencer listed all of the reasons why she prefers life here, over her homeland in the US - but added that there are things that she misses and they mostly 'revolve around food'.

Olivia Carney is originally from North Carolina in the US but moved to Manchester with her husband Dane last year

UK food is better but she misses American takeaways 

She explained: 'UK food quality is way better. There's just no debate in that. The US has basically zero standards for food.

'They can just do whatever they want and it's disgusting. Coming here and tasting actual ingredients like ketchup is just crazy.

'Here it's literally tomatoes, and in the US it's full of sugar. There's like 20 ingredients in ketchup in America, whereas here, I think there's like three.

'Food quality is just - you just can't match that.'

However, she admits that she does miss the food 'options' you get in America, such as the variety of fast food and takeaways.

She gushed: 'I'm missing Mexican food, I definitely miss Chick-fil-A, I miss Chipotle. I know there's Chipotle in London, but I'm in Manchester, so it's not feasible for me to get to. 

'I miss my Trader Joe's, like snack staples and things like that. I miss Target.' 

But, despite missing her favourite US eateries, she still wouldn't swap it for the quality and price of grub here in the UK.

The influencer listed all of the reasons why she prefers life here, over her homeland in the US - but added that there are things that she misses and they mostly 'revolve around food'

She said: 'Overall food quality here is way better. It's also way cheaper.

'In the US I would do a very similar food shop to what I do here. I was paying $200 a month a week on food for the same shop. Here it's $150 to $200, depending on what we needed that week.

'So yeah, food quality, food price, way better here.'

And food isn't the only thing Olivia prefers about the UK - in the same video she also commented on the differences in healthcare, gun violence, public transport, and of course, the weather.

Healthcare is cheaper in the UK 

The TikToker told viewers: 'Everyone should know by now that the US healthcare is insane.

'I had a really good job in the US and had health insurance through my job, but that cost me $600 a month for my healthcare.

'That also just didn't cover everything that I went to the doctor for. So I still got healthcare bills even though I was paying $600 a month for that.'

She added: 'I will say being here using the NHS, I did pay a healthcare surcharge to be able to get in, and l I do pay taxes.

'I understand. I've not paid into it my whole entire life like all of the other English people or UK citizens,  but I'm not using it for free. I have paid for it. But I still don't have a bill every time I go.'

The UK is safer 

Moving on to the topic of gun violence, she claimed that in America, you could 'just be in the wrong place at the wrong time any time'. 

She added: 'I definitely understand and appreciate that there is violence here in the UK as well - a lot of knife crime and things like that, but it's nowhere near the severity that is in the US with guns.

'The fact that somebody can just decide that they want to buy a gun and use it on a crowd of people, it's just different'.

UK has better public transport but driving is tricky

When it comes to public transport, Olivia finds that the UK is more convenient in terms of 'being able to get around'.

However, she says driving is a different matter.

The TikToker admitted: 'Driving over here is so incredibly hard. In the US, the roads, to me personally, just make more sense.

'I know it's because that's where I grew up, so it's what I'm used to and it's where I learned, but for example, highways or motorway systems here, if you miss your exit, it can add another 30 minutes onto your journey.

'Because they don't have exits at every mile the way that we do in America. So if you miss your exit, you're kind of out of luck.'

The American added: 'But I will say this country is way older so they had to just put the roads wherever they could fit them.

'They didn't plan the cities and living areas around the roads, where most of America is built that way.'

The US weather is better 

Finally, it couldn't be a UK and US comparison video without a mention of the weather.

Although the influencer misses the sunny skies of North Carolina, she admires the determination Britons have for getting things done rain or shine. 

Olivia said: 'I obviously miss the US weather. This is the longest that I've ever gone without being in the sun and I feel like a ghost.

'I miss the sun. I will say that this winter was really hard for me. I lived in the south so I was in the sun all the time.

'We didn't see the sun for, like, a month straight and it was just dark. Like, no, weather in the US is obviously better.'

She added: 'The last thing that I will compare is how much people still do things here despite the weather.

'In the US, if it's raining, if it's snowing, if it's cold, if it's wet, whatever, you're just not leaving.

'If it was gonna rain or something on Saturday, we're just not doing anything. If it's raining, we're not going out. We're just gonna stay in all day and watch TV.

'Here obviously it rains all the time so you can't let the weather affect what you do, otherwise, you'd never do anything.

'So everyone here is still out and about, still doing things, still having a great time and I love that. I think it's just such a difference to what I'm used to.'

Both Americans and Britons flocked to the comments to chime in with their own opinions on the cultural quirks

Both Americans and Britons flocked to the comments to chime in with their own opinions on the cultural quirks.

One US native wrote: 'I'm an American expat living in England! I feel the same as you- been here for nine years now!'

Meanwhile, a Brit joked: 'I've never been to America and I miss the US weather too'.

Another quipped: 'I'm from UK and I've lived in Washington State for over 10 years. 

'I’m desperate to move back to the UK for all of your reasons.'

A third Briton added: 'I don’t think I’ve ever come across an American on here who’s moved to Manchester over London - you picked the best city. Glad you’re enjoying it'.

An American chimed in with: 'Moved to Scotland from the U.S. last year and I agree with every word you said. 

'We’re so glad to be here. Our quality of life has improved tremendously. I really miss Trader Joe’s though!'

A grateful Brit gushed: 'You know as someone who was born here in the UK, I think we often take for granted what we have here, but I love hearing good stories about people loving that they moved here'.