A 14-Year-Old McDonald's Burger Looks Almost Brand New

April 24, 2013

The burger pictured above looks like any other McDonald's burger. It's missing the usual condiments and looks a bit dry, but otherwise it appears just fine. Well, it turns out that burger is actually 14-years-old. 

David Whipple of Utah has kept a McDonald's hamburger he purchased in 1999. And surprisingly, the burger looks almost exactly he same as it did the day he bought it. 

This isn't the first time we've seen how McDonald's food ages, but the phenomenon is always just as shocking. In 2010, Kendi Lopez-Alt did a series of tests for Serious Eats and found that a variety of burgers don't rot over an extensive period of time. "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."

Doesn't it look appetizing? 

Image Sources:

.

Comments

MattW's picture

Actually, Kendi (in the link above) compared the McDonalds burger to home made ones. The conclusion is simply that if you build a burger of that shape and size, it turns into, effectively, jerky instead of rotting. Fast food or not is irrelevant.

Rosemina Nazarali's picture

Thanks for clarifying that Matt. I've updated the post accordingly.