Cheeseburger Watch 2010: Will it Rot?
January 29, 2010 14 Comments
If you leave a McDonald's cheeseburger at room temperature will look the same 4 years later? This sounds implausible, BUT a friend of mine says she has seen a 4 year old burger that shows no sign of decomposition.
I'm a skeptic, so I have decided to do a very scientific (ha!) experiment and buy a McDonald's cheeseburger and leave it on my shelf.
It is photographed here and was purchased yesterday, January 28th, 2010 at the Hadley, Massachusetts' McDonald's store.
Why would I want to share photos of a cheeseburger growing old? Well, I am one of the many consumers that is concerned by chemicals in her food.
I know that the FDA has tested the chemicals for sickness inducing characteristics (such as cancerous growths). So, I'm not really afraid of what eating this stuff will do in the short term.
But, I do think there is something wrong when food that SHOULD decompose (as all natural food does) doesn't! There is no reason a bun, hamburger, and cheese should stay bacteria and fungus free for more than 3 days.
This begs the question - what safe chemicals is McDonald's using? how much of the stuff is in the food?
I have heard crazy stuff about what is in McDonald's hamburgers. The company maintains that the hamburger is 100% beef. My hypothesis is that 100% beef should rot.
So, a few rules:
- Every Saturday, I will post a new photo of THIS cheeseburger taken on the previous Friday. Basically, you will see a record of the cheeseburger's growths every week.
- If the cheeseburger does rot and smells bad, I'm tossing it! I will post it's last photo for posterity.
- To my e-mail subscribers, I will not send you e-mails of the latest in the cheeseburger's demise. You can just check for the Saturday post if you are interested. I will update my RSS, FaceBook, and Twitter Followers. Just ignore it if you are not interested.
What are your concerns about chemicals in your food, if any? Please share.
Want to read about snacks?
So What's Inside Yoplait Yogurt Anyway?
The Worst Pizza on the Planet
What You Should Know About Snack Wraps
14 Comments:
Megan
bunkie
Ethan D
carolyn
stan
Melissa F
Hemi Weingarten (Fooducate)
Candice
Laurie
Melissa
Rachel@AllergenFreePlease
donald
Kris
lauren