Serious Eats contributor, J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, was skeptical of recent claims that McDonald's Happy Meal hamburgers are impervious to growing mold, and that they would not rot. He wasn't so much disturbed by the claim, as the lack of science supporting the various conclusions as to why these little burgers would show little change in appearance for years and years. Taking on the project in his burger lab, he created his own burgers and placed them side-by-side with McDonald's samples.
It is interesting to see his results. It turns out his burgers, made from fresh, preservative free beef he had ground himself, ended up just like the Mickey D's patties. Dried out, and certainly inedible, but no mold! The original posts had implied that McDonald's burgers were such a nutritional abyss that even bacteria could not survive on them, or that heavy use of fillers and preservatives prevented mold from growing. So, how on earth could this be the result?
It is worth reading the entire post for all of the details, but it basically boils down to a lack of moisture. The small patties dehydrate so quickly that mold spores have no chance to gain a foothold on the beef. The quarter pounders, with their larger beef patties, did show signs of mold, and the Happy Meal burgers that went into sealed plastic bags? There was a serious yuck factor on those.
I hope this is a not too subtle reminder for all of us not to jump to what we believe is "the logical" conclusion. Bravo Kenji!
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