The McDonald's Project: Day 14

Two weeks! I bought my burger fourteen days ago with the aim to see if it would decompose on the counter just like McDonald's said it would. My hamburger ended up like Davies said it would, hard as a rock, though I have to admit her burger and fries look better than mine. Now McDonald's spokeswoman Theresa Riley discounted Davies' project, saying it was something out of urban legend. The Yahoo! article continued:

"McDonald's hamburger patties in the United States are made with 100% USDA-inspected ground beef," Riley wrote. "Our hamburgers are cooked and prepared with salt, pepper and nothing else -- no preservatives, no fillers. Our hamburger buns are baked locally, are made from North American-grown wheat flour and include common government-approved ingredients designed to assure food quality and safety. ... According to Dr. Michael Doyle, Director, Center for Food Safety at the University of Georgia, 'From a scientific perspective, I can safely say that the way McDonald's hamburgers are freshly processed, no hamburger would look like this after one year unless it was tampered with or held frozen.'" (http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20101012/bs_yblog_upshot/mcdonalds-happy-meal-resists-decomposition-for-six-months)

Now, I was on the side of McDonald's; my hypothesis was that in two weeks it would decompose, grow mold, smell, etc. Yet none of that happened. I just left mine out on the counter, untampered; those locally baked-buns are petrified, and that 100% USDA-inspected ground beef is like plastic. I don't know about Morgan Sperlock's hamburgers in jars that molded but mine did not. Notice that nothing in McDonald's statement covers the fries...the one I shattered showed that it probably isn't pure potato from Idaho.

At the conclusion of my project, I have to say I will miss my little Happy Meal. I'm not sure I want to throw it away just yet. Below are comparisons from the first day of the project and today's final pictures. Pictures 1, 4, and 5 are from Day 1; the rest are from Day 14.

The McDonald's Project: Day 13

Only one more day to go and the project is still going strong. It is fully petrified; I wonder if we would put it in a container and bury it, if archeologists would dig it up hundreds of years later. A perfectly preserved hamburger and fries...Eureka!

The shattered fry from yesterday...

The McDonald's Project: Day 12

I decided to break open a fry today; I ended up snapping it in half. The buns and burger are completely hard and the fries only have grease to moisten them. I'd hate to chip a tooth on them.

The McDonald's Project: Day 11

Fully satisfied with turkey and all things that must be consumed with it, it is hard to look at the hamburger and fries on the counter. Yet there they sit, just about completely dried out. It can't compete with real food...

The McDonald's Project: Day 10

Sorry this post is so late but, no surprise nothing has changed. Burger is still going strong, if you can call it that. Grateful that I'm getting made from scratch goodness! Happy Thanksgiving!

Trying to show the grease seeping through the bottom of the bag

The McDonald's Project: Day 9

By Day 9 I hadn't thought through what I expected; my hypothesis was in favor of McDonald's claim that the burger if un-tampered would decompose--get mold, smell, start excreting weird juices, etc. According to Merriam-Webster.com, decompose means: "to separate into constituent parts or elements or into simpler compounds; to break up into constituent parts by or as if by a chemical process".

Would the burger be enveloped in fuzzy multi-colored spores or be perfectly maintained in its original state? Come to find out neither has happened; while no fuzz has germinated, the burger itself wouldn't be fit for consumption if it was the last thing on the planet. The only thing I can think of to describe it is petrification. Every bit of moisture is leaving the objects, leaving a nicely preserved Happy Meal behind.

The fries are matching the bun in hardness. The grease is dripping out the bottom of the wrapper, causing the dye to run and turn the bottom of the plate a gooey red.

My Mom thinks it is shrinking

The grease has changed the paper a reddish hue because of the dye on the
French Fry wrapper

Fries are hard and greasy...hmmm, seems suspicious to me!

The McDonald's Project: Day 8

My little project is coming along nicely. Little seems to have changed though my mom remarked that the food looked smaller. I agree and this is most likely due to the moisture being removed as it sits out. One thing that I noticed was the burger itself when in the light seemed to glitter. I'm not sure if this is due to something in the burger or grease on top of the burger. I tried to take a picture to document the phenomenon but I don't think it came out very well. You can see for yourself below.

That's a dusting of flour on the top bun, there

Are the fries getting smaller???

Glittering patty

The McDonald's Project: Day 6

Yes, this is a hamburger patty...

I continue to see for myself that my McDonald's hamburger has quite the longevity gene. No odors, no mold, no odd juices (except for the grease that is oozing from the fries). Just a Happy Meal hanging out on the counter.

So far, no critters have carried away my burger and fries

At the top of the plate and to the left of that lone French Fry you can
see the grease that has completely saturated the bottom of the bag and leaked onto the plate

Fries back in their usual spot

The McDonald's Project: Day 5

My project got some interest at last night's potluck. First, people were wondering why I had McDonald's on the counter and then they willingly provided their own stories of years and decades old McD's food. I told them I had heard of the stories but wanted to see it for myself. Day 5 here and still going strong. Pictures are worth a thousand words!

The McDonald's Project: Day 4

Not much has changed from yesterday; I picked up the top of the bun and it was hard as a rock but I did not see any mold. The fries were stiff as well but not completely hard like the bun. The bottom bun is a bit softer but I am guessing that is due to the moisture from the hamburger itself. I didn't smell anything odd (of course it could be my cold interfering but no one else in my house is complaining so...). The wait continues.

Close up of the patty; pretty dry, I'm sure it's like jerky!

Hmmm, don't let the image fool you; they're pretty hard!

The McDonald's Project: Day 2

I checked my burger and fries this morning. They smelled less fried though they did not smell "funny" as it was reported in the other experiments. The hamburger clearly looks dried out and the fries look dehydrated themselves. So far no signs of decomposition.

Well, it hasn't grown legs and walked away
Burger is drying out.
Fries are looking kind of sad.

The McDonald's Project: Day 1

After work, I stopped by my local McDonald's to pick up my Happy Meal. I have actually never been inside it and to be honest, I can't remember the last time I was in a McDonald's. Any way, I got my project home and set it up on the counter. Let the count down begin!

My receipt with the date and my purchase

The date just in case, further evidence and validity of my project

The Happy Meal

There they are, ready to decompose

The McDonald's Project

To decompose or not to decompose, that is the question. The Internet is loaded with stories about decade old twinkies that stay perfectly preserved inside their cellophane wrappers. A recent post on Yahoo.com highlighted a McDonald’s Hamburger which did no decompose at all over 180 days. McDonald’s of course said this was ridiculous and the project must have been tampered with. Curious as I am, I decided to test this for myself: do McDonald’s hamburgers and fries decompose?

Some Background

My project was inspired by artist Sally Davies’ experiment photographing a Happy Meal for 180 days in order to document its breakdown (or lack thereof) (The Happy Meal Art Project). Davies kept the food on a plate and reported that after 180 days the “food” became hard and did not develop mold or even smell after the first 24 hours. McDonald’s said that their food is made with real ingredients and even provided a scientist to affirm the fact it is real food and thus, would break down just like food should. http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20101012/bs_yblog_upshot/mcdonalds-happy-meal-resists-decomposition-for-six-months

I had read at an earlier point in time about Karen Hanrahan’s McD’s hamburger from 1996. Hanrahan, a wellness/nutrition counselor, kept the hamburger in a plastic container. According to her website, it looks just the same as when she purchased it and the bun has begun to break apart. Unlike Davies’ burger, Karen reports hers has a funny smell. http://bestofmotherearth.com/2008/09/24/1996-mcdonalds-hamburger.html

My Hypothesis

So who is right, McDonald’s and their scientist or these two ladies with their experiments? I have a hard time trusting what is written or published on the web unless the source has been vetted. Likewise, I have a difficult time trusting fast food companies whose very existence depends on the validation of their product—of course their going to defend their product.

After consultation with a friend who is a scientist, I decided to try the experiment. It was recommended that a homemade burger and fries should be left out with the McDonald’s version in order to provide comparison. This is an excellent idea but one that I am unable to perform at this time (perhaps at a later juncture). At this point I am going to test a McDonald’s Happy Meal, just like Davies. No pickles, mayo, ketchup, or mustard, just the hamburger, bun, and fries. I will house the project in the kitchen (much to my mother’s chagrin) and take pictures of it everyday in the morning for 2 weeks. My hypothesis: If I leave the food out on a plate for 2 weeks, then it should develop mold, smell, and/or show further signs of decomposition. In other words, it will behave just like McDonald’s says it should.

Each day I will blog the results; I’m not sure how to time stamp the pictures but I will provide that as well so it can be verified. I will have a house full of witnesses to validate what I am doing.
At the end of the 2 weeks, I will evaluate and report the final results, drawing my conclusions. Who said science is boring?

http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_scientific_method.shtml