On April 25, 2022, a report in the British newspaper The Sun made people a little "uncomfortable", a man from Illinois, usa, found a McDonald's in the mezzanine of the wall while renovating his house, including uneaten fries, which actually maintained its original shape, but dried out!
McDonald's, 60 years old: There is no sign of decay
The Rob, illinois user, posted a photo on the Reddit forum on April 19 of three McDonald's fast food bags, revealing a packet of fries that looked a little red in color, but the fries remained intact, as if they were overheated in the microwave.
This package is written on the outside of McDonald's, confirmed that It is McDonald's in English, but the packaging looks very old, very simple "oil paper" packaging, when is this McDonald's product?
According to Rob, the home was being renovated, and when he removed the bathroom wall, he revealed a plasterboard in the back, when he found a "large rag" stuck to the back of the board, but when he took out the "rag" it felt something was wrong, it seemed to be a paper bag that had been rolled into a large ball.
Rob's wife was also nearby, and the two of them opened the bag, which was a very old McDonald's package with the words "I am faster" and "custom hamburger" written in English, and there was a packet of fries in one of the bags, and the two were confused at the time, because Rob knew that the house was built in 1959, and there was no major renovation after the construction was completed!
In other words, this McDonald's may have been built at that time, and then the workers who built it at that time even left it here without eating the fries, and then it was like entering the time capsule, until 2022, and the fries stayed here for 63 years!
According to the information given on the Business Insider website, this packaging was the packaging of McDonald's between 1955 and 1961, and the earliest McDonald's store in the local area that sold this McDonald's has long been bulldozed and built a museum.
However, the Fries of that year are still there: the face does not know where to go, and the Fries are still smiling in the spring breeze
McDonald's: Why don't hamburgers rot?
I believe that many friends have watched this kind of news and slipped by casually, but sensitive friends will definitely think about it, how much preservatives are put in this McDonald's food? How it has been rotten for more than 60 years, it is really terrible!
The uncorrupted McDonald's is by no means the case of the Rob family
In October 2009, McDonald's had to close its restaurant in Iceland due to the spread of the financial crisis, and on October 30, anthropologist Hjörtur Smárason ate his last burger at Iceland's last McDonald's restaurant.
But Hjörtur Smárason left a fries + McDonald's burger to see what would happen to this McDonald's burger over time!
Burger appearance after 6 years
But after putting it up, Hjörtur Smárason forgot about it, and it wasn't until 3 years later that Hjörtur Smárason suddenly remembered that he had hidden a burger, and the magical scene after opening it really startled Hjörtur Smárason, because this fries and burger seemed to be just like the one bought a few days ago, slightly dry and wrinkled, and the rest was like not much different from the freshly purchased.
Hjörtur Smárason made the incident public, and this Hamburg became the famous "The Last McDonald's Cheeseburger sold in Iceland." (The last McDonald's cheeseburger sold in Iceland).
Since then, its attention has not diminished, and there are often news of it on the Internet, such as the fact that Hjörtur Smárason announced the condition of this hamburger 6 years later, still not decaying, just getting drier! In November 2019, the Washington Post released its latest status:
After 10 years, the fries box looks dusty, and the color seems to be somewhat faded, the fries look very dry, the color looks like some mold is multiplying, and the cheeseburger has similar signs, but the overall glance can be seen that it is fries and hamburgers, which makes people really speechless.
Coincidentally, there is also a case on the BusinessInsider website, where in early 2013, Dr. Jaqueline Vaughn of Michigan purchased a Taco Bell chicken taco and a McDonald's cheeseburger and fries and placed it in Vaughn Chiropractic's office in Watford, Michigan.
Since then, this McDonald's has been here, next to the patient check-in form, and people have come and gone! According to Jessica Freed, an chiropractic assistant who works in the office, none of the foods show signs of mold or starting to stink.
According to a news report by BusinessInsider on January 8, 2015, the root of the burger was still the same as it had been, just drier, not even mildew, and Dr. Jaqueline Vaughn had put it here to remind patients:
"Fast food is just terrible for you," she said. "We are showing our patients that it won't mold and even the bugs won't touch it."
"Fast food is terrible for you," she said. "We're showing our patients that it doesn't get moldy, and even bugs don't touch it."
On April 23, 2013, BusinessInsider also reported an even more startling case, when David Whipple bought a burger in 1999, put it in his pocket, and when he came home, he forgot about it and put his coat in the closet.
Hamburg more than a decade later
When he wore the coat again 2 years later, he suddenly found that there was a burger, but the "surprise" was that there was no sign of mold, and he decided to keep the burger until it began to decompose and rot, but more than ten years later, the burger was still intact, but the leaves disappeared, and the beef inside did not look much different from the slices of bread and fresh.
How does McDonald's explain this?
At the end of the BusinessInsider article, McDonald's tries to explain this:
McDonald's says that in a verified environment, McDonald's burgers, fries and other foods on the menu will be decomposed, but in fact there are some simple scientific questions in a few cases that don't seem to be decomposing!
A beef patty with mold spots
Because for food to decompose, there is a very key condition, that is, moisture! If there is not enough moisture in the food, then bacteria and mold cannot grow on it, which is easier to see when preparing dehydrated food in the kitchen.
McDonald's also said that the burgers and fries in the case had dried up and dehydrated, and "it could never be the same as on the day of purchase."
Dr. Keith Warriner, Program Director of the Department of Food Science and Quality Assurance at the University of Guelph, explains in more detail:
The microbes that cause decay are also like humans, they need water, nutrition, warmth and time to grow, and if one or more of these elements are missing, microorganisms cannot grow.
In mcDonald's' case, where meatloaf loses moisture in the form of steam during cooking, bread loses a lot of moisture during baking, the burger is dry at this time, and the moisture ratio in most rooms is about 40%, which makes the moisture lose further, resulting in signs of dehydration.
So in the absence of the right humidity, burgers only dry out but don't rot, and food blog A Hamburger Today has also conducted some interesting experiments to confirm that the phenomenon of uncorrupted burgers is not unique to McDonald's, and similar phenomena are common in many fast food foods.
However, there is a fact that I would like to explain to you, in the BusinessInsider page, the page linking to McDonald's page about Dr. Keith Warriner's detailed explanation of the uncorrupted burger has disappeared, and perhaps Dr. Keith Warriner, although he explained, was not willing to stand for McDonald's.
Are McDonald's burgers and fries even added preservatives?
Despite official explanations and dr. Keith Warriner, one question remains unclear as to whether McDonald's burgers are actually containing preservatives.
The answer on Quora was interesting
Quora is similar to foreign Zhihu or Wukong answer, or Baidu knows, etc., there are very professional answers, there are also very watery answers, basically need readers to distinguish themselves, and in the mcDonald's in the end whether there is a preservative on the question, the difference is not big, the basic answers are:
Title: What type of preservatives were added to McDonald's burgers and why did they do it? Is it healthy to eat?
The answer is undoubtedly one-sided, there are answers from certified dietitians, there are also answers from ordinary people, you may wish to see what kind of answers there are:
The picture above is the answer of certified nutritionist Mansi Sharma, the original text is very long, and the author picks up the key translation:
'N' preservatives, artificial flavors and colors are added to food, with disastrous consequences for your body in the long run. They add these ingredients to keep food fresher, tastier, more aesthetically pleasing, and to ensure that food has a longer shelf life.
The following is a list of a large number of preservative names, not to list them all, in addition to answering the question of McDonald's preservatives, she also popularized the name and scope of use of a handful of preservatives.
The copywriter/ghostwriter, Prafulkumar, is from India and thinks there are many types of preservatives added to McDonald's burgers, but he doesn't know exactly what type of preservatives they are, but adding them to extend shelf life and create a flavor that will make your taste buds addictive, the burger is not very healthy, it's best to eat it only twice a month.
Robert Nickerson, a former McDonald's employee from Georgia, replied that McDonald's beef had no preservatives, lettuce and onions, and that bread was on the outside, no different from what was bought outside.
In fact, there are many answers, but the author does not want to translate one by one screenshots, the basic above screenshots have included the attitudes of three people, professional nutritionists, flat-headed people and McDonald's employees, so mcDonald's added preservatives?
On September 17, 2020, an article was published on McDonald's website titled "Wait, what's really in McDonald's burgers?" (Wait, what's in McDonald's burger?) ), explain what exactly is McDonald's burger?
Here are the facts: All of our burger patties in the U.S. are always made with 100% USDA-inspected beef. That’s the only ingredient: 100% real beef. Our patties contain no preservatives or fillers, and the only thing we ever add is a touch of salt and pepper when the patties are sizzling hot on the grill.
All burger patties in the U.S. are made with 100% USDA-tested beef. The only ingredient is 100% beef. Our patties contain no preservatives or fillers, and when the patties sizzle on the grill, the only thing we add is a little salt and pepper.
However, there are also McDonald's foods containing preservatives, as described below:
Here's something else you should know: In the U.S., none of the classic burgers on our menu contain artificial preservatives, artificial flavors or added colors from artificial sources, besides the pickle.* Our pickle contains an artificial preservative, so skip it if you like. That’s right – the buns, cheese, patties and other ingredients that make up our classic burgers have no artificial preservatives, artificial flavors or added colors from artificial sources.
In the U.S., all classic burgers on our menu, with the exception of kimchi, contain no artificial preservatives, artificial flavors, or artificially added colors. Kimchi contains artificial preservatives, so skip it if you don't like it! Classic burgers contain no artificial preservatives, artificial flavors or artificially sourced colors.
However, the author did not find the Chinese description of this document, or the author may not have searched for the Chinese version of this statement for the time being, which big guy if you see it, you may wish to leave a message to inform, thank you very much! (End)
reference
https://www.reddit.com/user/slamminsammy2109
https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/en-us/our-stories/article/OurStories.really-mcds-burgers.html
https://www.quora.com/Which-type-of-preservative-are-added-to-McDonald-s-burger-and-why-do-they-do-it-Is-it-healthy-to-eat
https://www.businessinsider.com/why-mcdonalds-burgers-dont-rot-2013-4
https://www.businessinsider.com/man-saves-mcdonalds-burger-for-14-years-2013-4