McDonald's answers 'Why doesn't your food rot?'

McDonald's answers 'Why doesn't your food rot?'

In a series of posts on its website, McDonald's answers customers' frequently asked questions about its food in the U.S., including "Why doesn't your food rot?"

Well,

The answer? "In the right environment, our burgers, fries and other menu items could decompose," McDonald's maintains.

Dumbing Down
Dumbing Down
Etc....
What do you think?

I know I am satisfied. NOT~!
How about you?

a reply to: imd12c4funn

Any idea what that right environment is?

originally posted by: BlueMule
a reply to: imd12c4funn

Any idea what that right environment is?

A year stay on a bloody tropical jungle...

a reply to: BlueMule

The center of the sun?

originally posted by: BlueMule
a reply to: imd12c4funn

Any idea what that right environment is?

Acid. Maybe?

I remember seeing a guy on yt that kept burgers for years and years. Some of them still looked as fresh as ever.

Disgusting.

Right environment?

LOL

That just means they haven't got a believable answer.

In the right environment, our burgers, fries and other menu items could decompose

Well, I think McDonald's might have created a new and inexpensive "food" for preppers.

I used to think that some chemicals were preventing MacDonald's food rotting, but I saw a video about a year ago where someone compared MacDo's burgers to homemade ones, and in both cases, the only burgers that had rot were the cheese burgers, because the moist content is highest, or something in the like.

I don't remember the title, but it must be easy to find on youtube.

It killed that conspiracy for me... lol

But I remember the president of MacDo saying to Morgan Spurlock, in super-size me that they were aware their food was more dangerous for consumption once processed than if prepared at home. And they "were not encouraging" people to eat there 3 times a day, seven days a week. But I bet they wish it happened.

Also, it's a sad day when billions of people are eating s# that isn't even biodegradable.

a reply to: imd12c4funn
Pfffft, which environment is that, their lab?!?!
I read a thread here years ago about a guy finding a McD burger in his tuxedo pocket form prom years earlier and it was still in tact. I went to McD;s that day and bout a hamburger and cheeseburger. 3 years later they were perfectly intact. They were hard as a rock but even the pickles and cheese were not moldy. Try it yourself.

This is what megabunk had to say:

the burger doesn't rot because it's small size and relatively large surface area help it to lose moisture very fast. Without moisture, there's no mold or bacterial growth. Of course, that the meat is pretty much sterile to begin with due to the high cooking temperature helps things along as well. It's not really surprising. Humans have known about this phenomenon for thousands of years. After all, how do you think beef jerky is made?

www.metabunk.org...
So why didn't McD's say this? I am going to cook a regular homestyle burger for comparison. I think they spray/use so many preservatives on these things imo,

How much moisture is in a french fry, not a lot, how much moisture in a french fry that's been sitting out for a week, hardly any.

Therefore, it won't rot.

Same with the burger, it dries out left in the open. If you kept the burger in a container it would rot.

I don't know why people don't know that.

Heck. I have seen pizza in my own house sitting around for a week, no rot.

No mystery.

a reply to: Toadmund

Same with the burger, it dries out left in the open. If you kept the burger in a container it would rot.

I put mine in a small dark ice chest thinking the same thing, yet 3 years later, unspoiled.

Heck. I have seen pizza in my own house sitting around for a week, no rot.

How about years though? I will include a slice of pizza in the next experiment. I will put it, a homemade burger and a McD burger all in a plain un-iced ice chest.

This is ripe with conspiracy. Maybe they make the burgers and fries and they only decompose on the surface of mars. Probably where Ronald McDonald is from.......

Of all the things to be concerned about regarding McDonald's food, this is not one of them. I can answer this question better:

The reason the burgers preserve so well is the large amount of preservatives.


The answer given is perfectly accurate; it was simply lacking an explanation. The key preservative here is salt (likely in the form of MSG, I'm not sure). The salt preserves the food in the same way that it melts the ice on your sidewalk. This hydrophilic reaction creates an environment where organisms simply cannot live. This is the same way gravlax is made and has been a way to store meat safely for ages (sans the MSG).

Part of this decision to add preservatives is for taste, but the rest is likely to reduce liability. If a customer eats a day old burger, McDonald's doesn't want any responsibility over that.

I dont get it why so many ppl eat mcdonalds anyways? Theres so many smaller business that cooks healthy, fress and tasty burgers! Well i use to eat mcdonalds long time ago but my excuse is, i was always drunk back then, didnt care for stupid things like health. IMHO mcdonalds should be banned world wide and owners should be brought to justice!

Now I understand how the average North American ends up with 5 pounds of undigested meat in their gut.
The ewwww factor is huge.

a reply to: theantediluvian

That ,in all honesty, was my favorite part of the response, "could".

I laughed harder than I should have.

It would be interesting to take a McDo burger and an organic burger of the same size and put them side by side with the same amount of moisture and see what happens.

a reply to: imd12c4funn

Well they say that there is no moisture therefore no bacteria or mold growth. This is true, I took one of my wife's famous breakfast biscuit/hockey pucks, painted a white snowflake on it and hung it on our Christmas tree one year. That ornament went into the Christmas box and back in the attic after Christmas.The thing lasted about 8 years. My wife got pissed on year 8 and threw it in the trash. I'll bet it could have been passed down to the kids...So McDonald's may have a point. If you basically dehydrate the food nothing will grow. It may sound funny to say their food won't rot, but if you through in the back yard i guarantee it will rot.

The reason McDonalds does not seem to rot. Is it dehydrates very quickly. Lots of dry layers etc....

They have no reason to over preserve the food. Because they have such strict guides on timelines to follow.

I have seen lots of homemade food not rot on flatmates floor if the pieces are no bigger than my fist.