McDonald's Happy Meal shows no sign of decomposing after 6 months

[cowcommander]

Expecting the food to begin moulding after a few days, Mrs Davies' surprise turned to shock as the fries and burger still had not shown any signs of decomposition after two weeks.
'It was then that I realised that something strange might be going on with this food that I had bought,' she explained.
'The fries shrivelled slightly as did the burger patty, but the overall appearance of the food did not change as the weeks turned to months.
'And now, at six months old, the food is plastic to the touch and has an acrylic sheen to it.

'The only change that I can see is that it has become hard as a rock.'



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1319562/McDonalds-Happy-Meal-bought-Sally-Davies-shows-sign-mould-6-months.html

[ixion]

You are what you eat

...just sayin'...

[Erose999]

34. If that were true you'd be immortal if you only ate a diet of McDonalds and/or Peeps

[ixion]

35. well, no, not immortal... your corpse wouldn't rot, though

:evilgrin:

[AnOhioan]

1. This is why I stay away from that crap

[SammyWinstonJack]

2. Appetizing

:puke:

[ensho]

3. but what in hell is in the food to keep it like that?

people that work in the food plants that produce McD food would know what is in it.

are they under some kind of oath not to tell?

[slackmaster]

5. I think a burger and fries made from better ingredients would hold up about as well

As long as it dries out quickly.

[ensho]

19. don't be silly - real food rots

nt

[uppityperson]

21. Salted food kept in a dry place dehydrates. Ever hear of pemmican or jerky?

Used to be a common way to preserve food in times of plenty for leaner times. Even unsalted food can dry and keep well. When's the last time you found a rotten raisin?

[ensho]

22. are we talking about preserving food? no

so you think there is enough salt in McD food to preserve it?

[uppityperson]

24. We are talking about preserved food. Yes. If put in a dry place, yes there is.

Combination of low humidity and high salt=preserved food whether on purpose or not. And yes, there is enough salt in McD's stuff to preserve it if in a dry place. Obviously.

[PVnRT]

28. Have you ever had a McD's burger?

Trust me, it's swimming in salt.

[slackmaster]

23. Sure it does, unless it gets dehydrated quickly

[slackmaster]

4. It's been more than 15 years since I've eaten anything from McD's

I don't miss it at all.

[snooper2]

6. throw that in the microwave for about 45 seconds...

And it will be good to go again :rofl:

[pinboy3niner]

13. LOL! Y'never know when your creepy freeper uncle who's partial to Happy Meals...

...may drop by for a visit. :evilgrin:

[Sheepshank]

7. so those occassional fries I find under my car seat

that appear to be in pretty good shape, but rock hard, may actually be 2 years old!

[Uben]

8. That's just friggin great....

.....sometime in the future, someone will spend billions trying to figure out how they made a hamburger last 4000 yrs. I bet it tastes about the same, too.

[hendo]

9. Composting anyone? NT

[bulloney]

30. On Green Acres, Mr. Ziffel used Mrs. Douglas' cookies as replacement shingles on his house.

That's what that burger and bun in the picture reminds me of. Probably just as hard.

[hendo]

31. I miss Green Acres

It was such a humorous show.

[marions ghost]

10. preservatives

I still have a donut from the 1980's, shriveled but not moldy.

My SO is so allergic to food chemicals and preservatives that his face blew up from a blueberry muffin he ate at his Mom's house. After that, he's been clean for several months.

Fight back. Don't eat it. And do NOT give Happy Meals to kids.

We do not have adequate consumer protection to trust any of this stuff.

[Kablooie]

11. I've got a months worth of Happy Meals in my cupboard right now.

I don't have to worry about feeding my kids spoiled food anymore.

[PVnRT]

12. So, where exactly was it kept?

The article only mentions a "shelf in the apartment." If the shelf was in, say, a cool, dry pantry, then it's not at all that unusual for heavily salted items to stay preserved. Humanity figured out a long time ago that packing things in salt and keeping them cool and dry (like in a cave) was a way to preserve meat over the winter months.

There are plenty of things to criticize about fast food (factory farming, preservatives, cheaper quality food, obesity rates, marketing to children) that can be done without sensationalist nonsense from the Daily Fail.

[laundry_queen]

15. I agree.

The salt mixed with a dry place would do it. My daughter once brought a piece of homemade bread into her room (she knows better) and I found it, half eaten, under her bed quite some time later. It looked perfect. It was just rock hard. So the McDonald's fries and the bun dont' shock me. The meat kind of does though, but I find their burgers to be very sweet, so maybe it's a combination of salt and sugar that preserves it.

[LoZoccolo]

14. Without a control, this observation is pretty useless.

How do we know that a "normal" burger doesn't look the same?

[CanonRay]

16. Awesomely creepy

[cbdo2007]

17. Yum, I love McDonald's.

[alfredo]

18. Read "In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollan.

http://www.amazon.com/Defense-Food-Eaters-Manifesto/dp/0143114964/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1286983215&sr=8-1

[NoGOPZone]

20. Fossilized food. Bury it for a future generation to discover nt

[AtomicKitten]

25. Yikes!! I'll bet consumption of that food drops the national IQ 20 pts. nt

[Zax2me]

26. Does this really mean anything?

My college roommate was a slob, always leaving his McDonald's dollar burgers out on his side of the room.
Mold!
Mold grew on them in a short period of time, it was disgusting.
Why no mold on this burger?
Did she keep it in freezer?
Just doesn't make much sense.

[gatorboy]

27. Doesn't mold need humidity and moisture?

If the experiment is being done where the food is left out in a cool, dry environment, it seems like you wouldn't get much mold to begin with.

[uppityperson]

29. no, beyond being able to be dehydrated for a ymmy backpacking treat

Most anything can be dehydrated under proper conditions.

[NeedleCast]

32. Sure it Makes Sense

Keep that burger in a area relativly free of humidity and it'll probably go a really long time without getting moldy. I bet if you introduced a moderate to high level of humidity to that burger it would grow mold in a few days

[Zax2me]

38. Okay...

Well, we obviously had enough moisture in the room for mold to grow.
But the part that didn't make sense to me is what does this mean. The burger and fries are lethal weapons?!

[NeedleCast]

33. And?

I've had loaves of bread go months without growing mold as long as they were kept in a dry place. I'm sure the burger patty and fries are loaded with salt, which is further acting as a preservative. This is a non-issue. Eating the occasional McD's cheeseburger and fries doesn't hurt anyone.

[Hannah Bell]

36. um, this is phony, the same picture used on some herbalife "nutritionist"'s blog said

she'd had the food for 10 years or something. every few months it pops up somewhere on the blogosphere.

if you keep almost any food under dry conditions it won't rot.

but i assure you, mcdonald's food will rot if there's moisture.

[TexasObserver]

37. Peter Griffin would say "you gonna eat that?!"

Homer Simpson, too.



But seriously, ewwwwwwwwwwww! It's NOT food!