2 years old , McDonald’s burger that still looks fresh (well, almost)
it may be two years old but this mcDonald’s cheeseburger looks almost as good as the day it was sold.
the burger and fries have been sitting in the waiting room of a doctor’s surgery since January 2013 – but haven’t gone mouldy. nor do they smell. the cheese and gherkin are still visible and the bun is intact – apart from a bite-sized chunk that was broken off by curious hands.
in the words of one of the doctors conducting the ad hoc experiment, the mcDonald’s meal is ‘basically mummified’.
the burger was bought two years ago yesterday by Ronda marshall, a chiropractor in michigan in the Us. she put it out in her practice’s waiting room in an attempt to make patients stop and think about what they put into their bodies.
it has remained uncovered ever since but almost looks as if it is fresh off the grill.
Dr marshall said: ‘ there is no mould and you can still see the cheese and the pickle.’
somewhat disturbingly, insects have shunned the meal. Dr marshall said: ‘When we leave food out, we get ants. this hasn’t attracted any ants – not one bug has tried to eat it.’ over the two years, the burger, bun and fries have become ‘rock hard’. they have also shrunk slightly.
Dr Jacqueline Vaughn, Dr marshall’s mother and business partner, told mailonline she plans to keep the food on display ‘for ever’.
Yifan Zhang, a researcher of food science at michigan’s Wayne state University, attributed the bun’s freshness to the preservative calcium propionate. also known as E282, it is often added to bread to stop it from going mouldy. it is used in both the Us and UK.
mcDonald’s does not put any preservatives in its beef and so Dr Zhang believes the burger may owe its youthful looks to a more natural preservative – salt. mike Lean, professor of nutrition at Glasgow University, also says cooking the patty would kill bacteria capable of spoiling the burger, and reduce its water content. ‘it’s effectively dried meat,’ Professor Lean said.
it is not the first time mcDonald’s food has been shown to defy the ageing process. in 2013 a man from Utah claimed to own a 14-year-old cheeseburger that was still in good condition.
mcDonald’s UK said its burger patties are preservative-free ‘with only a pinch of salt and pepper added for seasoning purposes’.
it added: ‘Calcium propionate is used in our buns which is standard practice, commonly used in the bakery industry and entirely safe.’