I hope you'll forgive us for not always venturing too far from our hotel during our honeymoon?

Good to know.

That's true, but it isn't the well-seasoned stuff I have a problem with. It's the gratuitous use of salt in the USA that is required for our palettes because we're so used to processed over-sodiumed food. I'll take a nicely seasoned Thai meal anyday over overseasoned oversalty "American" fare that seems ubiquitous.

I think this is the most telling point. Some people view vacations as being *primarily* about the food. Even on the honeymoon. One of best aspects of traveling, for me, is going to new restaurants, trying new cuisine, etc.

But not everyone is like this. Some people eat to live, they don't live to eat. Some people go to France and just want what they're used to. It has nothing to do with class, sophistication, or anything else. I know plenty of high-profile folks like doctors, partners at law firms, etc., that order the Marriott burger when on vacation in Europe. You are definitely in good company.

Ok, processed foods aside, what typical American restaurant dishes/items do folks here find oversalted? I don't mean by govt. guidelines, I mean by taste. I would really like some examples. I don't recall ever tasting any dish in any restaurant that was oversalted. Quite the opposite in fact especially in the past 10 years or so since salt has been increasingly villainised. I've always had to salt most all of my restaurant food, but even more lately. (Oddly, airplane meals rarely require additional salt) I didn't grow up on processed food either, and eat very little of it even today.

Personally I didn't find food in the US to be particularly oversalted, if I was to describe mainstream mid level restaurant food there it would be sweet and simple.

An interesting thread, and as usual brings out plenty of info, and some clear personal preferences.

It's too long since I've had the pleasure of dining in the US to offer a credible opinion, but I don't have any unusual recollections, good or bad (ok, one bad, in the well known foodies town of Bandera, Texas ).

The question raised by the OP is, of course, unanswerable in absolute terms.

The best people can do is state their own preferences, and why they are so.

I've had food ranging from good to indifferent to bad in many - but nowhere near all - places around the world, and in general terms, it's all ok (the cuisines and countries that is, some individual establishments have been excellent, some execrable).

Almost all salted butter and most margarines are over-salted (but I suppose you categorize these as processed foods). Every omelette that I have ever had in the US has been over-salted. Most soups, particularly the blander ones (the chefs are afraid of bland flavours being rejected). Most sauces, but bearnaise and hollandaise are classic examples. Meat grilling has greatly improved though, so there is some hope on the horizon.

A much bigger problem is the overuse of sugar! Particularly in non-dessert dishes which need no sugar, yet it is added to punch up the flavour (and then salt and sour flavouring is added to counter the sugar!). I think coca-cola has had a large part in this trend (sugar everywhere) in altering the public palate.

Thank you for reaffirming what I believe. Perhaps the better question would have been "What dishes/items do non-US folks find to be oversalted in the US?"

I don't eat margarine if I can help it, but butter absolutely needs salt IMO. I salt buttered toast in many places outside of the US. I haven't had many bearnaise and hollandaise sauces outside of the US but I've never had an oversalted one here. Neither have I had to add salt... As for meat grilling I prefer the Brazilian method which always includes liberal salt - and nothing else. Steak and most other meat here (along with eggs) are what I end up salting more than any other food.

Sugar I agree with you 100%. Way way way too much used in far too many dishes. Still not as bad as South Korea though.

More opinions from non-US folks please!

IMHO, the key issue is to avoid pre-prepared foods. I also shun margarine and add salt to food when my palate tells me so.

In fact, some of the low cholesterol products offered as an alternative to butter nowadays have some quite nasty possible side effects that only industry professionals mostly know about.

If we try to forego mother nature it can be commercially viable but very questionable from a health based perspective.

Wy are we putting processed foods aside? The OP said that to him Prego tasted better than tomato sauce he had in Italy. That, to me, suggests his palette is used to oversalting and when he eats a properly seasoned sauce it tastes bland.

Also any chain restaurant like an Outback (also mentioned above) has sodium levels through the roof.

Is this really a serious question?

I could only imagine somebody who'd never left Des Moines, Iowa would think so.

I have to agree with you- was quite sure this was just a big wind-up.
My colleagues all had a big laugh at the thread title however...

Why do you say that? Plenty of people may dismiss the U.S., but this thread has advanced compelling arguments that the U.S. has the best food in the world, or at least it's not a silly question to ask. (And I am not referring to Outback, Olive Garden, and Prego!)

(And by the way, like many people here, I have traveled in and lived in many countries.)

To suggest that any country has the "best food in the world" seems to be a huge over-generalization IMHO.
Typically, you can find the "best" of many cuisines in their home country.
I haven't found a compelling argument in this thread for the USA.
From a health perspective, it would be difficult to consider the USA as having the best food in the world.

We could approach the question quantitatively though, no? How about looking at the number of Michelin starred restaurants per capita or something along those lines?