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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums14 yr old McDonald hamburger survives
"Utah man David Whipple has managed to hang on to a hamburger from McDonald's since 1999. The extraordinary part isn't the fact that he didn't throw the burger out, though -- it's that the burger barely looks like it has aged.
Appearing by phone on the TV show "The Doctors" recently, Whipple explained that the burger was discovered many years ago in his coat pocket, oddly enough. It looked the same then as it does now.
Whipple isn't the only one to discover this non-rotting burger phenomenon. In 2010, J. Kenji López-Alt conducted a series of tests for Serious Eats to figure out if various burgers would rot over time. He found that "the burger doesn't rot because its small size and relatively large surface area help it to lose moisture very fast. Without moisture, there's no mold or bacterial growth."
It isn't just burgers that have a eerily long shelf life, though. Melanie Warner, author of the book Pandora's Lunchbox: How Processed Foods Took Over the American Meal, conducted several food experiments earlier this year. Her findings? Fast food chicken sandwiches, store-bought guacamole and American cheese can also stand the mold-free test of time. But that's not necessarily a good thing."
Video at link
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/23/worlds-oldest-hamburger-mcdonalds_n_3139231.html
bike man
(620 posts)this is hoax-y.
The Daily Mail has had other articles over the years with photos of other long-lasting burgers, and 'some say' that source is iffy at best.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022740940
edited to add an earlier dailymail link http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1319562/McDonalds-Happy-Meal-bought-Sally-Davies-shows-sign-mould-6-months.html
edited again to put the second 'l' in dailymail
BainsBane
(53,035 posts)they use to treat the meat.
bike man
(620 posts)BainsBane
(53,035 posts)HERVEPA
(6,107 posts)Proven science is not really debatable.
burnodo
(2,017 posts)The only true test was for him to bite into it.
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)Even if it dried out it should look shrunken and not still be somewhat flexible.