Everybody loves pasta in USA, everybody avoids pasta in USA!

dried pasta

I do not really know why but the much-loved pasta is such a controversial topic too. I am not only talking about the popular “spaghetti with meatball”: Italians do -not- do it better, Italians just do not do it at all!. I am talking about diet as in many states in USA it is becoming a crucial theme. I have often experienced that personally, during my frequent travels all around the USA, sometimes they prefer even cheese, salami and ham which is of course an absurd preference.

So, let’s see what’s going on.

   1.   “Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight” is a message of Dr.Oz show.

OzShow is anAmerican TVprogramdevotedto medicine (launched in the 2009); Dr. Oz is a doctor and teacherat ColumbiaUniversity (New York), who became famous as a result ofhis frequentappearances on the popular “The OprahWinfrey Show”. One of the articles published on his website is about wheat considered even toxic and dangerous “Whether it comes in the form of organic, multigrain bread, white loaf or a strand of spaghetti, all wheat is bad for you”. This is the opinion of cardiologist William Davis, MD.

   2.   Export data

Many americans think Pasta is dangerous for the weight but this information is not supported by data. In 2013 a real boom of export has been registered on the U.S. market, where arrivals grew by 61%, and if we also consider the Canadian market as well as Latin America, you get a +78%.(Just a curiosity: Barilla is still the leader and it is easy to find in each supermarket, along with some more prestigious brand like De Cecco as well as Pasta produced directly in USA)

   3.   Pasta in Pharmacy

According to Coldiretti (Italian organization of farmers recognized at national and european level), export data are the result of the “positive valuescommunicated by the Italianproducts attributedtothe Mediterranean diet”.

It is no coincidencethatthelargestU.S.drugstore chain, theWalgreens, with 8,000 stores in all federal states, sells (especially organic) pasta, (still produced in Italy).

There is only one truth: less is more. The problem with pasta is not the pasta itself, it’s more about portions… as usual!

And there is only one problem in America: overcooking, even if italians keep on writing “al dente” on each box of pasta we export and the americans seem to know what it means!

home made pasta with broccoli sauce and dried tomatoes