Do McDonald's Burgers Decompose?
McDonald's seems to be the villain in the never ending battle of good food versus evil food.
You may even have heard the rumor that Mcdonald's food lasts forever.
There is so much information floating around out there about the famous golden arches, that it's hard to know what is true and what is just hype.
One claim came to my attention today from Best of Mother Earth blog that really made question it's scientific validity.
Let's face it, we all know by now that McDonald's' food is for the most part unhealthy and should be avoided, but still they don't deserve to be misrepresented by faulty claims or studies.
Hanrahan's 12 Year Old Burger
Hanrahan claims that she purchased a plain hamburger from McDonald's then 12 years ago, in 1996.
She also claims that it has been unchanged since, because of all the preservatives McDonald's has in their products.
She claims that her burger was kept in a plastic container and the only change from 12 years ago is that now it's beginning to crumble a little.
She also described the burger's smell as odd.
Spurlock's 10 Week Old Burgers
As soon as soon as I read this I thought of the documentary " Super Size Me".
At the end of the film Spurlock puts different food from McDonald's in glass jars to see how they will decompose.
After 10 weeks all of the burgers were covered with mold and according to Spurlock smelled grotesque. The only food from McDonald's that didn't start to decompose was the French Fries.
If you haven't seen this film, watch the video clip below.
So who's telling the truth here?
I question the first claim a little and I wonder if the burger was allowed to dry out somehow because without any moisture fungi and bacteria would be unable to grow.Both experiments didn't exactly follow the scientific method, but in my opinion Morgan Spurlock seems to be the most scientific with him outlining exactly how he set the experiment up and documenting the experiment carefully through-out.
What do you think? Which experiment do you think is more factual?
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Created / Updated: January 13, 2012
Unless the burger is made out of plastic I can't imagine it still looking basically the same after twelve years. I'm skeptical of experiments done by people who are obviously out to get the findings they want, and in Mr. Spurlock's case have no scientific training.
Super Size Me is ridiculous; five thousand calories a day ,no exercise ,and he's amazed that his health goes down hill.Sorry, I just can't stand the guy.
Replyyes but he was trying to highlight the fact that millions of people are living that lifestyle and thinking that it's ok... good on him I say!
ReplyYou see it that way and I see it as a self aggrandizing man with no talent other than selling his then girlfriend's now wife's diet book. He came into the movie to get one conclusion and stacked the odds in his favor to get the desired results.
Don't give me that line that this is somehow defensible because some people eat fast food every day. The vast majority of Americans don't gobble down five thousand kcal of food every day let alone just huge servings of McDonald's.
ReplyAgree with you cereal - Super size me was a 2 hour "jackass" stunt - not a thought-provoking documentary. I'm pretty sticky when it comes to critique of diets, but I'm even moreso with film. To me, Supersize was not about a guy getting sick off of McDonalds, but rather about a guy who made an ill-advised decision to eat crap for a month.
Good article, by the way!
ReplyI think SuperSize me is good entertainment, but it should have been a little more thorough for me to consider it a valid, unbiased documentary.
Regardless, Spurlock did get one point across, eating fast food is one of the worst choices someone can make for their health - whether it's three meals a day or only one - those foods are doing nobody any good. And yet, these franchises are practically everywhere - and McDonald's isn't the only culprit.
John Sifferman NSCA-CPT
ReplyI think this is well summarized John - good points.
ReplyIt was entertainment to you! How exactly where you entertained by that non sense?
If the beef industry tells you soy consumption is dangerous, and makes a movie where a idiot devours it non stop to prove there point would you consider that entertainment?
ReplyI'd like to see that. Soy burgers on whole grain with green tea to drink 24/7 for a month. Let's see what happens. Any "idiots" want to concur?
ReplyI don't think green tea could be in the plan, and remember the diet would have to be very heavy in the soy department at least 3500 of your 5000kcal so you could properly discredit it.(actual common sense need not apply)
The actual discussion of a burger that has lasted for twelve years with little to no decomposition would be interesting if there was more than anecdotal evidence.
ReplyI actually think the sugar and extra carbohydrates were more to blame for Spurlock's immediate health problems than the beef was. (Mostly the super-sized sodas and fries). Red meat causes more long-term health problems, such as colon cancer, which has been widely documented, one example here:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/02/24/health/healthy_living/main676374.shtml
:) ~Marcie
ReplyHow much beef is really in McDonalds food anyway?
ReplyAsk Clara Peller :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug75diEyiA0
Replyspelled callorie wrong like me
Replywho's an idiot
Replymy mom didnt raise no fool
Actually you are wrong, some americans do consume that many calories, some athletes do, but they work it off so it's okay, but others consume without burning it off, that is how we get these 1,000 pound men and woman you see on t.v. I think super-size me opened the eyes of many
ReplyThat bruger thing about not decompassing got be fake.
I aint no scientist but i have 3 cents to say on supersize me the scientific experiments at then end I am compelled to agree with his findings except for the fries i have that theory at the end. The rest of supersizeme well the guys almost a vegetarian as it is and now were gonna induce more mcdonalds than the average north american ever eats at a normal sitting for a meal. And were gonna introduce soemthing to your body you do not consume every day Meat. Enough said your gonna get sick in a bad way.
Next As for all the persvatives in our food etc etc. well lets see 400 years ago there was no preservatives in food and average life expectancy was 40 - 50 years 400 years later we have lots of preservatives in our food and average life expactancy is 75 -90 years of age. Conclusion on this is simple preservatives in oru food is a major conrtibutor to the human longevity. It can be all that bad.
The never molding theory of mcdonalds french fries :)
See cause the frech fries are of a shoe string variety there is not much potatoe in the actual french fry. So the little moisture that is in the french fries is replaced with what ever hydrogenated oil there using when the fries enter the deep frier.
The fries are cooked for an exact time the beeping you here continously at donalds is the deep frier lol. During the cooking process the fries are cooked for a period of time (i think 4 mins). This amount of time allows the oil to replace the moisture in the french fry when the basket lifts up any surface oil is drained off and the fries are dumped into the fry bin. Here the heat lamp helps cure the oil inside the fries buy gradually letting it form a protective barrier around anything that can contain moisture making donald fries mold proof :)
ReplyOne opposing point to Marty's Post: Improvements in health care is probably the main reason for life expectancy improvements...and improve your spelling if you can.
ReplyClearly spelling is the topic of discussion here. Get over yourself.
ReplyThe actual reason for longer life expectancy is penicillin and good healthcare. As a matter of fact the life expectancy of kids in their 20's-30's as of writing is about 65. Ie the life expectancy is going down. This is due to bad eating and lack of exercise. This is FACT.
ReplyOkay I'm not a scientist, I'm definitely a genius by any means, but how hard is it to prove or disprove the theory of the non decomposing burger? you get a burger and watch it sit. Simple. I personally started this experiment with a burger king hamburger, and granted its not a McDonalds hamburger, its the same concept. I brought the burger home on November 1st and decided it would be better not to put it in the jar to eliminate any theories about the jar and have it in a more exposed environment, so I simply put it in a cupboard on the paper it was wrapped in with the door cracked for airflow and have checked it every day since. It took about 5 days for just the bread to harden, with no signs of mold of coarse, and another 2 days for the burger to lose all the moisture and become hard as a rock, plenty of time for mold to grow and thrive on the burger right? I would say so. Now after 18 days it looks very close to what it did the day I bought it, it is a bit darker from loss of moisture but that's about it. the burger still smells about the same as it did on day 1, though no where near as strong.
So I would say, though there is a huge difference in time, the burger stayed moist for an entire week in a dark environment that was absolutely perfect for mold growth, and nothing happened, so at least in my mind the non decomposing burger myth is totally true...unless someone has another theory as to why under those circumstances it didn't mold and wants to throw some constructive criticism my way, and last but not least, please pitch ideas my way to better perform the experiment and try to get a different result
ReplyTry unwrapping the burger, most wrappers are antimicrobial as mandated by the FDA, so if the food is wrapped you could conceivably retard the growth of mold spores. Put the burger in the same state it would be in prior to consumption. Let me know how that turns out, I'm curious. The fries, I do believe will never mold. They are deep fried in a light oil, this alone drives the moisture out which can be proven by the fact that they float as they reach close to the same weight as the oil. The super preservative everyone is worried about is nothing more that common sea-salt, considered 100% organic by most nutritionist and the FDA. So the salt further helps to dehydrate the fries and since salt is Sodium Chloride, the chlorides would help to retard the molding process. Maybe that's why sat has been used as a major preservative for thousands of years. In old Egyptian times it was used as currency because of its unique nature and relative scarcity at the time. I would also like to make a correction to an earlier post, since I didn't major in chemistry in my time at college and only took it to fill my day, I would be considered an "amateur chemist". I did not want to intentionally mislead anyone, forgive me. I suffer from an immune disorder so I have to monitor my dietary intake, so sodium and chlorides are definitely consumed in low volumes. Ultimately, your dietary intake is your responsibility, not of the food industry. Can't help my self still have to indulge from time to time. Hope this reply was constructive and helps in some way.
Replyyou must be the manager.
ReplyYeah Im pretty sure he exercised and the point is not how many calories you intaking but the kind of calories. If I ate 5,000 calories a day, which is not very much, from clean sources such as organic and not deep fried in vegetable oil I think I would not gain as much weight and be healthier and have more athletic potential.
ReplyAs soon as soon as? Morgan Spurlock?
ReplyMy son and I tried the Spurlock experiment for school. We still have unchanged McD's fries in a jar in our kitchen. Our cheeseburger and quarter pounder were slow to decompose, much slower than a Jakes cheeseburger that was also in the experiment. everything went in a jar, now some jars may have been different sizes which could effect the results. The buns were the first to go, they sort of melted around the meat..We held on to the quarter pounder for over a year and although gross the meat part still looked pretty good! it was fun by the way, we would gross people out with it at any oppurtunity...the fries, I guess that because they are so slim they suck up enough grease to keep forever..Wanda
ReplyI pity the alien beings who, 10,000 years from now can find only McDonalds fries as evidence of a former civilisation and have to try to figure out what on earth they are ;-)
ReplyDon't forget the Twinkies!
ReplyKaren Hanrahan definitely dried out the hamburger. You need controls and hundreds of samples to make a good experiment. I'm not discounting the fact that there is bad stuff in fast food. Just don't eat there. Good little post about Micky D's though.
ReplyI would definitely say the burger would decompose more than the girls did in 12 years. That seems pretty ridiculous.
Replyi do agree i mean come on a 12 yr old burger
ReplyAll i knw is that the burgers are well made... I like them.. people do tend to get out of shape, but then it can be controlled...
ReplyBuy your own and see for yourself. Mine did not rot. I`ve had it almost two years.I ordered a cheeseburger happy meal. I left it in the bag and put it in the closet. It looks exactly the same as the day I bought it.
ReplyGross, I am not putting that in my closet. Common sense on how food is made is good enough for me.
ReplyA morning show in Australia had someone on the other day with a Hungry Jacks Quad Stacker that was 4 weeks old and looked like it had just been purchased... but who knows if that was true or what they'd done to it!
ReplyLast October (2007) I traded in my car. Before I took it to the dealership, I cleaned it out thoroughly. Underneath the passenger seat, in the very middle where I hadn't seen it/reached it before, was a 1/4 of a McDonald's cheeseburger, wrapped in a bit of the original waxed paper. I can only assume that it fell out of the trash bag and slid/rolled under the seat. When I unwrapped the paper, the burger piece looked to be in perfect condition - no rot, no mold, no "melting", and certainly no smell or I'd have noticed it under the seat long before then.
The kicker here? The last time I ate at McDonalds was sometime in the summer of 2004 when I moved from Texas to Arizona.
I well believe that someone has a petrified McD's hamburger that's many years old. If I hadn't already given up fast food years ago, this would have definitely given me pause for thought.
ReplyI don't believe for one second that the burger pictured is anywhere near 12 years old. I don't believe it's one year old. Even if she dried out the burger itself, the bun would have molded.
McDonalds food, is, for the most part, crap, but eating it once in a while isn't going to harm you. Every once in a while, I get a hankering for a Big Mac, and guess what? I'll eat one. And enjoy it.
It just seems that it's "hip" nowadays to blame McDonalds and fast food in general for everyone's weight and/or health problems. Anything to avoid taking responsibility for their own lack of self-control.
ReplyI'll tell you what - if you don't believe it's true, then why not try it for yourself. A McD's hamburger is less than $1. Go buy one and set it someplace neutral. Check on it every once in a while. I'll bet you'll find out that the buns don't actually mold unless you're in a very moist climate.
In fact I challenge you to do it. Put your money where your mouth is. I will. In fact I'll buy one this afternoon and photograph it once a week and post it to my blog. Just because I'm a geek like that.
ReplyThat's the point. If you set it out, the burger dries out, so you are preserving it by dehydration not because of the chemicals in it. Fungi needs moisture to grow so what you are doing is removing the moisture which keeps it from decomposing. A more scientific experiment would be to place the burger in a sealed controlled environment.
ReplyThere are hundreds of factors that can affect how food decomposes and whether or not molds/fungus will grow on it. If you put a burger in a jar with a lid, you protect the food inside from the majority of airborne spores (although, there may be a fair number of them that get into the jar) that would cause the food to grow mold. Humidity, temperature, and the environment can also affect how molds and bacteria will grow.
When we did food shelf life studies at the food manufacturing company I used to work for, we kept the samples of food at various temperatures and humidities. Even with a lot of preservatives, most of the samples molded after about a week. But if we kept the samples in a modified-atmosphere package of CO2, it took a lot longer for anything to grow on the samples. Bottom line, I believe both sides to this story. It's possible to preserve a burger for a year or whatever as long as you dry it out enough initially so that the bacteria and mold can't grow on it to decompose it. Kind of like food mummification, if you want to think of it that way.
ReplyYou've got it spectra... You could get a loaf of bread - dry it out in a sunny window -- and it might take ages to decompose. Put it in a plastic bag on a humid environment and it will start moulding up within days...
ReplyWell, I never thought I'd get an idea for my son's science fair experiment on this blog!
Thanks.
Very interesting topic. You have to wonder, though, at just about any food item that is THAT loaded with preservatives. Just what are we doing to our bodies. And, are we causing autism, cancer, etc?
Reply"So who's telling the truth here?"
ReplyAt ALL I hate it MC.
I am surprised that there is so much controversy about the 12 year old burger, but I'll add my 2 cents.
In addition to preservatives, many big food companies sometimes radiate/ nuke their food also to preserve it.
In fact we've been radiating food for years. Back in World War II they would radiate food to preserve it, and ship it over to the troops in boxes-- no refrigerators on the battle field.
Radiation kills living structures and disrupts the molecular structure of food. The FDA has actually approved radiation of green veggies to prevent the spread of ecoli and other bacteria.
So in addition to chemicals and preservatives, much of our food supply is also radiated, which will increase how long it takes to decompose.
My grandmother had canned goods that were more than 10 years old, but when you opened the rusty can the fruits inside still looked good. Hmmm.
And you know you've seen 10-20 year old gum stuck to things.
If people can make gum, candy, cereal, and canned goods to last forever without decomposing why can't they make burgers or fries that decompose.
The answer is that the technology exists to stop McDonalds burgers from decomposing and there are numerous examples across our food supply.
It you don't believe, try for yourself. By the way whether it's 12 years, 10 years, or 2 years IMHO 2 months is too long.
And I don't think anyone who thinks the burgers are healthy is really looking at the facts.
ReplySo your answer to this is radiate/nuke food; I'll assume you mean irradiated which was just recently approved by the FDA to be used on beef so that would be kind of hard for McDonald's to do twelve years ago.
Your comparison of canned foods or any other preservation style misses the point. The twelve year old burger is supposedly unchanged since the time she bought it without doing anything extra to preserve it ,and that's whats hard to believe not that you can't preserve things for long periods of time.
Who's arguing that McDonald Hamburgers or good for you? They might be unhealthy but that doesn't mean that bacteria and fungi won't eat them.
ReplyBy him putting his items in the jar, they retained the moisture and had a perfect set up to grow moldy. I can remember, as a kid, hiding those hated little burgers (I hated those little onion bits), only to later find a dried version of the original. No mold then either. Petrified burger or moldy burger--I think they're both likely under their respective conditions.
Reply