In Heated Debate, McDonald's Insists Happy Meals Can Grow Mold

[n2doc]

By HEATHER HORN | October 14, 2010 4:37pm

It started when Sally Davies bought a McDonald's Happy Meal in April and photographed it for six months, posting the photos on Flickr. What's special about the photos? Well, the food in them isn't decomposing. There's no mold, and not much shrinkage, either. When the project got picked up by Good Morning America (and, of course, the one-and-only Internet) it attracted the attention of the McDonald's PR folks. What follows is the summary of a truly weird debate over whether a Happy Meal can, in fact, grow mold.

'Anyone Can Repeat This Simple Experiment,' marvels Gizmodo's Jesus Diaz at the photos, which he turns into a video. "She says there were no worms, mold, smell, or visible decomposition of any kind." His reaction is pretty typical:

What I want to know now is what kind of technology does McDonald's use to create these things. Is a Happy Meal scientifically considered inert matter? Is it made of carbon-based polymers? Can it be recycled into jet fuel? They taste marginally better than asbestos, so it must be okay to use them to build houses.

Our Hamburgers Can, Too, Grow Mold "Bacteria and mold," explains the McDonald's Media Statement, "only grow under certain conditions." It implicitly blames the lack of mold in the photos on insufficient "moisture," and "strongly caution anyone from jumping to conclusions ... If food is/or becomes dry enough, it won’t grow mold or bacteria. In fact, any food purchased from a restaurant or grocery store or prepared at home that lacks moisture would also dehydrate and see similar results if left in the same environment." For good measure, the statement adds that McDonald's hamburgers "are made with 100% USDA-inspected beef," and don't include preservatives or "fillers."

Are You Saying This is a Mummy Burger? "It's hard to believe that a burger sitting on a living room in New York for six months can get mummified, like McDonald's is implying," responds Diaz. "Even with the A/C unit on, the humidity in NYC is extremely high, especially during the summer months." The inclusion of a control group--he suggests a steak--might be more scientific, he admits.

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http://www.theatlanticwire.com/opinions/view/opinion/In-Heated-Debate-McDonalds-Insists-Happy-Meals-Can-Grow-Mold-5394

[leftstreet]

1. LOL K&R for that title alone

What a world!

[Phentex]

4. I agree!

How funny! :)

[meegbear]

2. If bacteria and mold "only grow under certain conditions" ...

maybe people should stock up on Happy Meals instead of Beck's 'Food Insurance'.

[Hannah Bell]

3. mcd's food grows mold & gets slimy, i can vouch for that.

the claim that it can't, along with pictures originally came from a herba-life distributor.

& yes, if you put a burger & patty in a climate-controlled apartment, they will more likely dry out than mold.

i don't care how humid nyc is in the summer; it's not humid inside a climate-controlled apartment.

it's not rocket science.

[Rex]

6. +1

key words - climate controlled. Stick that thing OUTSIDE and leave it there for a week or two. It won't be there when you return.

[Radical Activist]

24. You're defending McDonald's.

Well, there's a surprise.

:wow:

[Hannah Bell]

29. lol. no, i'm defending truth as opposed to new age bullshit.

[Radical Activist]

31. ooohh... Kind of like when I correct exaggeration and bullshit about Obama

even when I might agree with the issue position the poster is advocating for. See how that works? I hope a light is going off in your head right now. You can't reach potential allies by spreading exaggerated and misleading propaganda.

[LoZoccolo]

5. It's not an experiment because there was no control.

Would a "regular" homemade burger do the same thing under the same conditions? We don't know, and people should be honest about that before they accuse McDonald's of putting carbon-based polymers in the burgers.

And I'm not saying the food is good for you; if you want to answer that question just look at the nutritional information and you'll find reasons not to eat much of it.

[the redcoat]

7. " don't include preservatives or "fillers." " my ass

at room temperature in a house, there is always some moisture. This burger wasn't buried in the desert, it was left on a countertop. I dare anyone to try the same experiment with any other meat. Hell, they can even use a blowdrier on it first.

I suppose ammonia isn't considered a preservative or filler.

[Hannah Bell]

20. cook a thin hamburger patty & leave it out on the counter in the summer when you're using A/C.

try it.

[the redcoat]

22. You know how sometimes you find bugs in your home?

Using A/C does not remove everything "bad" from the environment.

A home is not an ideal controlled environment. If we're going to talk about a lab/clean room, then you'll get no argument from me, but in the average home, as they say, "shit happens."

[Hannah Bell]

23. bugs have nothing to do with rot or mold. if you leave a piece of bread on the counter in the

average home, it will dry out. not mold. if you leave it in the bread bag too long, it will mold.

this is entirely because of difference in moisture in the closed space (bread bag) v. open space -- entire room. the bread bag holds the moisture in the bread in the closed space, & the mold can grow.

same thing if you leave a thin cooked hamburger patty out on the counter on a plate: it will turn into a hockey puck.

but if you leave the same hamburger & bun in the bag, under the seat of a damp van outside, it will turn into a slimy stinky mess.

air conditioning removes water from the air.

"Refrigeration air conditioning equipment usually reduces the humidity of the air processed by the system. The relatively cold (below the dewpoint) evaporator coil condenses water vapor from the processed air, (much like an ice-cold drink will condense water on the outside of a glass), sending the water to a drain and removing water vapor from the cooled space and lowering the relative humidity. Since humans perspire to provide natural cooling by the evaporation of perspiration from the skin, drier air (up to a point) improves the comfort provided. The comfort air conditioner is designed to create a 40% to 60% relative humidity in the occupied space. In food retailing establishments, large open chiller cabinets act as highly effective air dehumidifying units."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_conditioning

[Spike89]

8. Dishonest pseudo science

The happy meal in question had absolutely no sauces or condiments (ketchup/mayo/pickles etc.) because the moisture in those would have caused the patty and bun to mold pretty damn fast. If it was real science, they'd obviously have a number of controls. The idea of putting a steak along side is just stupid--hamburger is not the same as steak. Nonetheless, cook a steak well done and it will probably survive as well as a dry burger patty--it is pretty much what all cultures have done with meat before refrigeration! Why not grill the crap out of a pattie you make yourself from some hamburger? Unless something is really wrong with your apartment/house, you will NOT get worms growing in a well cooked burger patty.
I'm not fan of McDonalds, but this is just stupid.

[Radical Activist]

25. It was clever

of the McDonald's spokesperson to suggest that their hamburger is comparable to steak. Bullshit, but clever.

[Spike89]

27. Actually, it wasn't the McDonald's guy that suggested steak

It was the guy defending the "experiment" that brought up the steak.

[Radical Activist]

28. I read too quickly.

Then the comment was stupid. :)

[bpj62]

9. McDonalds Food

I get so tired of the McDonalds bashing that goes on. 1st of all McDonalds does use USDA certifed beef for thier burgers. I know this because I worked at McDonalds when I was in high school. The eggs are real not powedered, and the hamburger buns are delivered fresh every night. People tend to forget that McDonalds is fast food and bash it for its fat content. I don't go to McDonalds for health reasons I go because the food is fast and I am hungry. And yes a McDonalds hamburger without any ketchup or mustard will simply dry out in a tempature controlled room.

[snooper2]

12. I worked at McDonalds as well

And the eggs are powdered.. (lie #1)
You use the metal forms on the grill, one for the round egg's McMuffins, a different one for the more (scrambled) look that you get in the breakfast platter

Hamburger buns delivered fresh every night (lie #2)
I remember we got a shipment about every 3 days or so for buns. And yes, you go through a shitload of buns...

I worked every position in that place...and still eat there at times. Just don't going around acting like it's the fresh breakfast I make every weekend :)


(The oil in the fryers isn't changed every day either FYI)

[bpj62]

14. Powdered Eggs

I am going to assume that you are being sacastic about the eggs, either that or your McDonalds did something very different. Our buns were delivered nightly not every three day as you stated and the only thing that was precooked for breakfast was the sausage patty and the canadian bacon for the egg mcmuffin. Also the pancake batter was made fresh every morning.

[ThomCat]

16. I worked at a McD's as a teen too.

The eggs came in a jug, not fresh. We poured the eggs into the molds. So, apparently there are different forms the eggs can come in for different locations. :shrug:

We did not receive deliveries of ANYTHING daily. We received a truck once every other day at the most often.

I also remember that the oil was not changed every day. I think it was every other day.

The Pancake batter was definitely made every morning though. For quite a while I made it, along with all the salads for the day.

[AwakeAtLast]

15. The egg McMuffins I get at my McDonald's have real eggs in them

I can see the eggs they use from the counter and you can't fake an egg white with a cooked yolk in the middle.

I'm not a big fan of their hamburgers, but egg McMuffins are the one thing there that is actually good!

[HopeHoops]

10. Fuck. They START OUT as mold. What's left for mold to grow on?

:shrug:

[tridim]

11. I can vouch that all fast food soft drinks grow really cool mold.

In shocking quantities.

IMO it's the ice, which is almost always contaminated.

[ThomCat]

17. True. The ice machines NEVER get empied and cleaned.

Never get ice from a fast food joint. Those machines all get contaminated with mold after a while because the of the constant moisture inside, and that mold gets into every ice cube.

The entire machine isn't cold enough to retard the growth of mold, and even the cold parts will only slow it down a bit. In the warmer parts of the machine the mold will grow fast and thick. The mold spreads, and the spores go everywhere and stick to the ice. The ice is even discolored often if you look inside many ice machines.

You are probably making yourself sick getting ice with your drink. :(

[Lebam in LA]

13. LOL

My 1st belly laugh of the day! :rofl:

[Liquorice]

18. Fast food is loaded with salt, and salt is a preservative. Maybe that's why it didn't get moldy. nt

[Hannah Bell]

19. they're no more loaded with salt than the buns you buy at the supermarket. which grow mold.

[Spike89]

26. Left in the plastic bag, yeah, they'll mold

Not necessarily so if you leave 'em out open in an air-conditioned apartment where they're more likely to become crouton-like before the mold can start.

[Hannah Bell]

30. agreed. so does a piece of bread mold in the bag, dry out on the counter.

just like a mcd's bun.

[HuckleB]

21. The best piece I've read on this whole distraction.

http://theness.com/neurologicablog/?p=2405#more-2405