Posted on 04/24/2013 12:12:14 PM PDT by nickcarraway
If you were planning on storing a McDonald’s hamburger for 14 years the good news is it will look exactly the same and won’t go mouldy – the bad news is you will have to contend with it being rock hard.
One American did such a thing after initially setting out to educate people on how enzymes worked by keeping it for a month.
David Whipple, 63, hadn’t intended to store the food object for over a decade but decided to after accidentally finding it two years after making the purchase.
‘It sat in my coat pocket for a year or two after it sat in my truck,’ he told US talk show The Doctors.
‘When we discovered it, we were like, “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe it looks the same way!”.’
It turned out the burger had somehow been preserved in good condition for 14 years, with one of the only casualties being a disintegrated pickle.
Mr Whipple has no plans to part with his historic burger and has said he will show it to his grandchildren.
Scientists observed exactly the same phenomenon with Helen Thomas.
The question is, does it taste any better? ;-)
Yeah, nearly a decade and half and no decay. Sure.
But a quarter pounder from McDonalds will get mold.
This is an issue of moisture and rates of evaporation, not preservatives.
the sauce must be extra special by now.
FRENCH FRIES, they last forever. Left out doors in dry places, scavengers avoid them and nothing decays them. You are what you eat!
That’s because on a bad day it could conceivably take you fourteen years to get through the drive-thru.
Yep. It's basically the same process as "mummification". Without sufficient moisture, the decay process stalls out.
“scavengers avoid them”
Huh? What scavengers do you have around you? I’ve seen ravens and pigeons that hang out in fast food parking lots and pretty much live off scavenged french fries. Squirrels and rats love the things too.
TABPSSLCPOSSB
Sorta off topic...but sorta on topic too...
When next to youngest son was in 3rd or 4th grade we did a “margarine” vs butter “experiment.” A stick of margarine and a stick of butter were place on individual paper plates. They both went soft after a day or so; ants & fruit flies and other insects went after the butter; NOTHING went near the margarine blob. Nothing.
TABPSSLCPOSSB?
When I lived in Michigan I used to like tossing McD fries out the window to watch the Crows and Seagulls scrap over them. It was a pretty evenly matched battle.
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