McDonald's Happy Meal shows no sign of decomposing after SIX MONTHS

[Serpo]

You want flies with that? McDonald's Happy Meal shows no sign of decomposing after SIX MONTHS

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 9:39 PM on 12th October 2010


Looking almost as fresh as the day it was bought, this McDonald's Happy Meal is in fact a staggering six months old.

Photographed every day for the past half a year by Manhattan artist Sally Davies the kids meal of fries and burger is without a hint of mould or decay.

In a work entitled The Happy Meal Project, Mrs Davies, 54, has charted the seemingly indestructible fast food meals progress as it refuses to yield to the forces of nature.
Fresh: The Happy Meal on the day it was bought by artist Sally Davies in New York

Fresh: The Happy Meal on the day it was bought by artist Sally Davies in New York

Tasty: Looking a little dry and with an 'acrylic sheen', but the burger has no signs of mould

Tasty: Looking a little dry and with an 'acrylic sheen', but the burger has no signs of mould - not even on the bun

Sitting on a shelf in her apartment, Sally has watched the Happy Meal with increasing shock and even her dogs have resisted the urge to try and steal a free tasty snack.

'I bought the meal on April 10 of this year and brought it home with the express intention of leaving it out to see how it fared,' she said.

'I chose McDonald's because it was nearest to my house, but the project could have been about any other of the myriad of fast food joints in New York.

'The first thing that struck me on day two of the experiment was that it no longer emitted any smell.

'And then the second point of note was that on the second day, my dogs stopped circling the shelf it was sitting on trying to see what was up there.'
Fast food: Five months into the experiment, and although the burger patty has shrunk a bit it doesn't look that different to the original

Fast food: Five months into the experiment, and although the burger patty has shrunk a bit it doesn't look that different to the original

Worrying: More than three months in and the usual effects of time appear to have had no impact

Worrying: More than three months in and the usual effects of time appear to have had no impact

Expecting the food to begin moulding after a few days, Mrs Davies' surprise turned to shock as the fries and burger still had not shown any signs of decomposition after two weeks.

'It was then that I realised that something strange might be going on with this food that I had bought,' she explained.

'The fries shrivelled slightly as did the burger patty, but the overall appearance of the food did not change as the weeks turned to months.

'And now, at six months old, the food is plastic to the touch and has an acrylic sheen to it.

'The only change that I can see is that it has become hard as a rock.'
Tucking in: Mrs Davies bought the Happy Meal and put it on a shelf in her home. She said even her dogs are no longer interested in eating it

Tucking in: Mrs Davies bought the Happy Meal and put it on a shelf in her home. She said even her dogs are no longer interested in eating it

Even though she is a vegan, Mrs Davies' experiment has brought her amusement rather than fear.

'I don't really see this experiment as scary, I see it almost as an amusement,' she said.

'Although, I would be frightened at seeing this if I was a meat eater. Why hasn't even the bun become speckled with mould? It is odd.'

When asked if their food was not biodegradable, McDonald's spokeswoman Danya Proud said: 'This is nothing more than an outlandish claim and is completely false.'

It comes after Denver grandmother Joann Bruso left a Happy Meal to decay for a year until March to highlight the nutritional dangers of fast food.

Morgan Spurlock also made the film Super Size Me in 2004 charting the changes to his body eating just fast food for 28 days had.



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1319562/McDonalds-Happy-Meal-bought-months-ago-shows-sign-mould.html

[osoab]

Sick.

This is the reason why I quit eating that "food" almost a year ago.

Safety of Beef Processing Method Is Questioned (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/31/us/31meat.html)

This lady had a happy meal for a year.

Happy Meal is ageless: no decay in a year on a shelf (http://www.boingboing.net/2010/03/17/happy-meal-is-ageles.html)

http://craphound.com/images/happy-meal-1.jpg


Happy Meal is ageless: no decay in a year on a shelf

Cory Doctorow at 10:38 PM Wednesday, Mar 17, 2010

Joann Bruso, author of Baby Bites - Transforming A Picky Eater Into A Healthy Eater Book, a book on getting kids to overcome picky eating habits, has been blogging the half-life of a McDonald's Happy Meal that she bought a year ago. In the intervening year, the box of delight, plastic toys and food-like substances has experienced virtually no decay.

NOPE, no worries at all. My Happy Meal is one year old today and it looks pretty good. It NEVER smelled bad. The food did NOT decompose. It did NOT get moldy, at all.

This morning, I took it off my shelf to take a birthday photo. The first year is always a milestone. I gave it one of my world famous nonna hugs as we've been office mates for a year now! (Okay, maybe my sanity is in question.)

[Dogman]

Can think of a bright side (sorta) whoever eats that crap long enough using the theory that you are what you eat. When they die and are buried. Hundred if not thousands of years later when some alien archaeologist digs them up the body it should be perfectly preserved. And they(aliens) will marvel at our method of embalming the way we have with the ancient Egyptians.


:whistle

[zap]

I used to stop at Micky d's, cause I was on the road so much, I hated to feed it to the little one, so I didn't do it very often, now we don't stop at all , she won't eat the food and just wants the toy, I still stop and get coffee and a toy sometimes.

[1970 silver art]

During some weekends, I will buy and eat a couple of breakfast burritos from McDonald's. They are pretty good in my opinion.

[SHTF2010]

i think there's a website somewhere with 10 year old samples, still looking pretty

[midnight rambler]

It appears to me that it's the perfect long term storage food.

[Gaillo]

It appears to me that it's the perfect long term storage food.


Yes... if only it WAS food! ;D

[osoab]

During some weekends, I will buy and eat a couple of breakfast burritos from McDonald's. They are pretty good in my opinion.




I wouldn't touch that stuff Art. Make some burritos at home. Mmmmm. Bacon.

[SHTF2010]

It appears to me that it's the perfect long term storage food.


low storage maintanence

could be good barter material for the sheeple a few weeks after TSHTF

[Apparition]

Yet another reason to shun the consumption of fast food.

Who knows what the heck is in those foods.

I've done so for about a few months and I couldn't care less.

[SHTF2010]

reminds me of the " rumour " that margerine is one molecule away from plastic

[Ash_Williams]

These stories never seem to die.

There's plenty of reason not to eat at mcdonalds, and I'm not saying it's healthy, but I'm sure I could take organic produce and make it last that long. Salt and oil are all you need. The fries and patty would be no problem, although I don't know offhand how to preserve the bun... the key is it has to resist rot long enough to dry out.

A lot of stuff won't rot when left out in the room temperature indoor air. Especially if it has oil on it. You can take a piece of wood, dry it out, and put any sort of oil you want on it and it will make a great piece of furniture that lasts forever indoors - that doesn't mean the wood is processed in a bad way or partially plastic.

[Ash_Williams]

reminds me of the " rumour " that margerine is one molecule away from plastic

Well, it's not. But even if it were, that's much further away than lead is from gold.

[Carbon]

... I still stop and get coffee and a toy sometimes.


Might want to rethink that...


Maggots in the McDonalds Specialty Coffee Maker (http://www.businessblunder.com/2010/09/maggots-mcdonalds-coffee/)

Posted in Gross and Bizarre

McDonalds maggots in coffee machineMaggots. Would you go back for a specialty coffee or latte from a business whose coffee machine bred maggots? That was the case at a McDonalds location in Michigan recently. Lansing State Journal received an email from an alleged McDonalds employee who said maggots were found in the specialty coffee/latte machine. They were found after a putrid odor kept emanating from the beverage machine.

The email went on with: The regional manager was contacted and her response was the machine must be kept on and we must continue to sell our specialty coffees.

LSJ contacted McDonalds to verify the maggot story and received a response from the franchise owner via McDonald’s PR firm:

“Rest assured, absolutely nothing is more important to me than operating safe, clean restaurants. I take matters concerning the safety and quality of the food and beverages I serve extremely seriously.

“Upon learning about these allegations, we took immediate action to investigate the claims. It’s important to note that at no time did the area of the machine in question come in contact with the beverages.

“This was an isolated issue and corrective action has been taken to address this matter. We removed the machine from service so it could be sanitized and repaired. The machine has since been returned to service and no further issues have been reported.”

[1970 silver art]

During some weekends, I will buy and eat a couple of breakfast burritos from McDonald's. They are pretty good in my opinion.




I wouldn't touch that stuff Art. Make some burritos at home. Mmmmm. Bacon.


Darnit! I hope the food police do not come to my residence and arrest me for excessive consumption of McDonald's breakfast burritos. ;D

[milehi]

What's a basic fast food lunch cost these days? I havn't been through a drivethrough since the late 90's. I'm asking because I can get a nice healthy* sit down Thai lunch for 6.99 plus drink and tip.

*no msg
several different veggies and brown rice
Thai waitresses

[Neuro]

What's a basic fast food lunch cost these days? I havn't been through a drivethrough since the late 90's. I'm asking because I can get a nice healthy* sit down Thai lunch for 6.99 plus drink and tip.

*no msg
several different veggies and brown rice
Thai waitresses

Good choice, though soy sauce contains mono-sodium glutamate naturally...

[milehi]

What's a basic fast food lunch cost these days? I havn't been through a drivethrough since the late 90's. I'm asking because I can get a nice healthy* sit down Thai lunch for 6.99 plus drink and tip.

*no msg
several different veggies and brown rice
Thai waitresses

Good choice, though soy sauce contains mono-sodium glutamate naturally...


No soy sauce for me, however I do pile on the Thai chiles.

[osoab]

During some weekends, I will buy and eat a couple of breakfast burritos from McDonald's. They are pretty good in my opinion.




I wouldn't touch that stuff Art. Make some burritos at home. Mmmmm. Bacon.


Darnit! I hope the food police do not come to my residence and arrest me for excessive consumption of McDonald's breakfast burritos. ;D



Pay with cash.

[VX1]

A couple of years ago, a somewhat upscale restuarant (upscale for this area, anyway) opened around the corner. While we we're eating, the owner came out to introduce himself, which was nice, but then he proceeded to brag and demonstrate the indestructability of the buns they use for all their sandwiches. He squeezed one as tight as he could in his fist, and when finished, the bun magically expanded out to its original shape again. He then soaked it in water, then twisted and squeezed all the water out like a sponge, until the bun was dry and back in its original shape.

Nice show, but I haven't been back. I don't want to meet the mentally-challenged individual that witnesses that and says "That's cool! I take me one of dem sandwiches!"... and I also don't want to eat in a place that assumes all their patrons are that stupid.

[sirgonzo420]

A couple of years ago, a somewhat upscale restuarant (upscale for this area, anyway) opened around the corner. While we we're eating, the owner came out to introduce himself, which was nice, but then he proceeded to brag and demonstrate the indestructability of the buns they use for all their sandwiches. He squeezed one as tight as he could in his fist, and when finished, the bun magically expanded out to its original shape again. He then soaked it in water, then twisted and squeezed all the water out like a sponge, until the bun was dry and back in its original shape.

Nice show, but I haven't been back. I don't want to meet the mentally-challenged individual that witnesses that and says "That's cool! I take me one of dem sandwiches!"... and I also don't want to eat in a place that assumes all their patrons are that stupid.


Hahaha that is a hilarious mental image; some restaurant owner interrupting your meal to introduce himself and put on an infomercial-like bun demo.

[Glass]

Haven't had Macca's for about 10 years. For nearly the same money you can get actual food.

milehi..... Thai waitresses are good ;)

[Joe King]

These stories never seem to die.

There's plenty of reason not to eat at mcdonalds, and I'm not saying it's healthy, but I'm sure I could take organic produce and make it last that long. Salt and oil are all you need. The fries and patty would be no problem, although I don't know offhand how to preserve the bun... the key is it has to resist rot long enough to dry out.

I have a loaf of bread that I bought back in June that for whatever reason never got used, so I decided to keep it to see what might happen to it.
So far it's gone un-changed in any way other than feeling a bit stale. It's certainly not crispy dry, and appears to still be edible if one were to need it for sustenance.

Other than the June 25th exp date, it looks the same as if it were bought yesterday.

[steyr_m]

These stories never seem to die.

There's plenty of reason not to eat at mcdonalds, and I'm not saying it's healthy, but I'm sure I could take organic produce and make it last that long. Salt and oil are all you need. The fries and patty would be no problem, although I don't know offhand how to preserve the bun... the key is it has to resist rot long enough to dry out.

A lot of stuff won't rot when left out in the room temperature indoor air. Especially if it has oil on it. You can take a piece of wood, dry it out, and put any sort of oil you want on it and it will make a great piece of furniture that lasts forever indoors - that doesn't mean the wood is processed in a bad way or partially plastic.


This isn't the only time-lapse pics of McD's "food". I've seen another picture of a McD's "meal" compared with another plate that had a burger & fries bought from a local burger joint at the same time. The difference was immense. I wish I saved for reference.

About the bun, back when I was stupid and joined the US Army... they had buns in the MRE packs that lasted a long time too. Yes, I understand it was packaged, had dessicant, etc. There had to be something else in it too....

[illumin19]

Colon cancer anyone?

The food is to hard for the hue-man body to breakdown too which is why alot of obesity is seen. The food just packs into your body resulting in a "beer gut" look.

If anyone is interested in losing weight I recommend fasting from all fast food, eating whole grains, tuna, alot of water and eat alot of blueberries or find some other recourse for B vitamins. Get some exercise and sleep well.

[Neuro]

Doesn't the happy meal burger normally come with some lettuce and pickle? Further she put it in a sunny window which would dry it out quicker, and as pointed out when dry it will not rot... I am not saying that this is healthy food, but she probably did this 'experiment' to get attention and sell some of her otherwise worthless art...

[AOW]

And the fries look rearranged in the second pic or she sampled the original ones as time went on and then she had to replace them. Or something. ::)

[uranian]

i can't believe y'all are apparently defending mcdonalds "food". jesus the stuff is poison. i had a student a while back who was a grave digger during his summers at university, and he told me that human bodies tend not to rot these days, such is the load of preservatives from the "food" we eat. the only difference i can see between feeding someone this type of food and shooting them is time.

[Neuro]

i can't believe y'all are apparently defending mcdonalds "food". jesus the stuff is poison. i had a student a while back who was a grave digger during his summers at university, and he told me that human bodies tend not to rot these days, such is the load of preservatives from the "food" we eat. the only difference i can see between feeding someone this type of food and shooting them is time.
Reread the thread no-one defended McD... Whenever I fall out of norm and go and eat at McD or BK I end up getting liver pain, right abdomen just under the lower ribs... Happens very rarely though... I think the worst is the deep fried stuff, the oil is filtered 100's of times...

[uranian]

i've made a point of shitting only in mcdonalds for years. started to fade a bit when we motorhomed across europe as they did free internet access, so i'd sometimes have a coffee too, but seems even that is a bad idea from the maggots story.

[osoab]

i've made a point of sh*tting only in mcdonalds for years. started to fade a bit when we motorhomed across europe as they did free internet access, so i'd sometimes have a coffee too, but seems even that is a bad idea from the maggots story.


Did you wait until after they cleaned the toilets?

Some of those "restrooms" are nasty.

[uranian]

you've not been to india, i'm guessing!

and i'd have to say that mcd in europe are generally clean, from what little i've seen.

[osoab]

I have something similar to relate to the hamburger experiments.

About early to mid June I finally disposed of some apples that I had sitting in the bottom of my fridge.
I had purchased these apples in March I think. They had been there a bit. Too long of time for my tastes anyway.

Anyhow, I was tossing the apples into my compost bin, and decided that I would leave one sit out to see how fast it would degrade.

These were nice sized Granny Smith apples.

So I placed the apple on the wood slats on my smoker and let it sit there. Air was able to move around it.
It was in a fairly shady spot for most of the day and not a lot of rain/moisture reached it either.

Well it took about 8 about weeks before any brown spots started showing up on the apple. After about 11 weeks, mid September, bugs finally started devouring it. This is when I added it to the compost bin.

I truly expected this thing to rot within a week or two. I would guess some of the reason has to do with the preservatives that are applied to the apples long before they hit the store.

Anyhow this was an unexpected little observation I had over the summer.

Back to the burgers. I have also noticed the lack of ketchup, mustard, onions being talked about in all "tests".
I would guess that a plain burger might have been ordered. I hope that the degradation would have been accelerated with the addition of the condiments.

[osoab]

you've not been to india, i'm guessing!

and i'd have to say that mcd in europe are generally clean, from what little i've seen.


No India or Europe for me, but I do live in a college town.

Unless it is a dire emergency, and I mean DIRE, I will not use a public restroom.

I have seen way too many gross ones.

[Twisted Titan]

i can't believe y'all are apparently defending mcdonalds "food". jesus the stuff is poison. i had a student a while back who was a grave digger during his summers at university, and he told me that human bodies tend not to rot these days, such is the load of preservatives from the "food" we eat. the only difference i can see between feeding someone this type of food and shooting them is time.



'And now, at six months old, the food is plastic to the touch and has an acrylic sheen to it.


Excellent preservative.........

[Ash_Williams]

An apple straight out of a tree with no sprays ever will look ok for weeks if kept indoors. It'll last a lot longer in a cool dry area especially if they suck out the oxygen. That's how you can get apples so far out of season.

I'm thinking of getting a happy meal with the purpose of disproving this. 1 week outdoors and it will be moldy. Most food doesn't go moldy indoors unless it has it's own moisture of its own. If the moisture has been displaced by oil then it won't rot... same idea as oil spraying your car.

If something not rotting easily means you shouldn't eat it then we should all stay away from nuts at christmas.

[General of Darkness]

http://www.moonbattery.com/soilent_green.gif

[osoab]

An apple straight out of a tree with no sprays ever will look ok for weeks if kept indoors. It'll last a lot longer in a cool dry area especially if they suck out the oxygen. That's how you can get apples so far out of season.

I'm thinking of getting a happy meal with the purpose of disproving this. 1 week outdoors and it will be moldy. Most food doesn't go moldy indoors unless it has it's own moisture of its own. If the moisture has been displaced by oil then it won't rot... same idea as oil spraying your car.

If something not rotting easily means you shouldn't eat it then we should all stay away from nuts at christmas.


Well staying away from the family at Christmas may be an issue.

However, we had 90's and high humidity all summer. This thing lasted through all of it. I was glad to see bugs finally started eating the thing. Once the bugs hit it, I through into the compost bin. I kind of wished I had left it out a little longer ow. 8-11 weeks of this exposure before any rot/bug activity seems odd to me.

I have also been thinking of getting fast food to try this experiment, but I would have to break my pledge of never visiting one of these establishments.

[Serpo]

Is this why they are called happy meals ,buy it now ,eat it next year or when ever,it will still be in perfect condition...........