# 14 year old McDonalds burger found. Looks new. yuck! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 25, 2013, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-year-old-mcdonalds-burger-found-looks-new-yuck/656691 "2013-04-25T19:29:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-year-old-mcdonalds-burger-found-looks-new-yuck/656691/1 "2013-04-25T19:29:55Z")
Receipt was dated Jul 7, 99 No mold, no bad smell. What kind of preservatives is McDonalds using? Is it really even meat anymore? 😉 We used to joke about Twinkies never going bad. 😛 Article and video. Video gives a lot more info. eatocracy.cnn.com/2013/04/24/yes-thats-a-14-year-old-burger-in-my-pocket/?hpt=hp\_t5 ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-year-old-mcdonalds-burger-found-looks-new-yuck/656691/2 "2013-04-25T19:33:38Z")
No preservatives at all. The burger was just allowed to dry. If it had been placed in an airtight plastic container it would have rotted. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-year-old-mcdonalds-burger-found-looks-new-yuck/656691/3 "2013-04-25T19:36:08Z")
Utah is pretty dry. That couldn’t happen here in Houston. Real homemade beef burgers do the same thing, by the way. Experiment [here](http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/11/the-burger-lab-revisiting-the-myth-of-the-12-year-old-burger-testing-results.html). There’s nothing especially better or worse, decay-wise, about McDonald’s burgers except people particularly want to bash them. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-year-old-mcdonalds-burger-found-looks-new-yuck/656691/4 "2013-04-25T19:43:44Z")
Also, why would McDonald’s really need unusual or excessive preservatives in its burgers anyway? They freeze ingredients between processing and sending them to franchises so there’s not even time for the ingredients to rot. That and serving millions of them everyday means the ingredients don’t sit on shelves for long either. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-year-old-mcdonalds-burger-found-looks-new-yuck/656691/5 "2013-04-25T19:47:24Z")
It was hearing this news item this morning that prompted [this thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=689144) Don’t eat it! ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-year-old-mcdonalds-burger-found-looks-new-yuck/656691/6 "2013-04-25T20:42:12Z")
He could have sold it for thousands of dollars but didn’t. That is the incomprehensible part to me. It’s garbage and he’s hanging on to it, because it’s amazing? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-year-old-mcdonalds-burger-found-looks-new-yuck/656691/7 "2013-04-25T20:49:07Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > Also, why would McDonald’s really need unusual or excessive preservatives in its burgers anyway? My take was not McDonalds’ \*goal \*was making a burger that wouldn’t rot; rather, it’s just a side effect. Look, people, this stuff is so far removed from actual food even germs can’t digest it! Reminds me of the list of Coca Cola myths about pennies and removing blood and stuff. Except, you know, it’s actually true that this burger didn’t rot. Neither did the fries in _ **Supersize Me** _, if I’m remembering right. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-year-old-mcdonalds-burger-found-looks-new-yuck/656691/8 "2013-04-25T21:25:33Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Look, people, this stuff is so far removed from actual food even germs can’t digest it! I think you’re missing the point that _any_ food, allowed to dry out completely, will not rot. McDonald’s hamburgers are not exceptional in this regard. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-year-old-mcdonalds-burger-found-looks-new-yuck/656691/9 "2013-04-25T21:57:48Z")
> [@bup](#): > > My take was not McDonalds’ \*goal \*was making a burger that wouldn’t rot; rather, it’s just a side effect. Look, people, this stuff is so far removed from actual food even germs can’t digest it! it’s like you just ignored the posts by **mozchron** and **Great Antibob.** Drying is an old, _old_ method of food preservation. Do you get all bent out of shape about how long beef jerky lasts? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-year-old-mcdonalds-burger-found-looks-new-yuck/656691/10 "2013-04-25T22:03:21Z")
The McMummy; now with less formaldehyde! ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-year-old-mcdonalds-burger-found-looks-new-yuck/656691/11 "2013-04-25T22:04:48Z")
What the hell do people think is IN McDonald’s food that’s so far removed from “real” food? Chemicals? Introduced at what point in the process? Do they get their beef from artificial ultra-cows made of formaldehyde? ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-year-old-mcdonalds-burger-found-looks-new-yuck/656691/12 "2013-04-25T22:08:00Z")
it shows the places are just as sterile as an operating room. word has it this will become the next ad campaign. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-year-old-mcdonalds-burger-found-looks-new-yuck/656691/13 "2013-04-25T22:39:49Z")
You know what’s in a McDonald’s beef patty? Beef and salt. Preservatives cost money, and they don’t need them because the beef is frozen until cooked. After it’s cooked if you dry it out it will last for years like any other piece of beef jerky. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-year-old-mcdonalds-burger-found-looks-new-yuck/656691/14 "2013-04-25T22:46:33Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Chemicals? That’s what I’d like to know. Beef is cheap. Low quality beef is even cheaper. You’d think if they’re bothering to pump all sorts of chemicals into the food, they’d find a formulation that tastes like Wagyu beef instead of tasting exactly like generic, mass produced beef patties. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-year-old-mcdonalds-burger-found-looks-new-yuck/656691/15 "2013-04-25T23:10:15Z")
Oh, I think I’ve got it (or part of it). Some people think that the burgers are cooked, then sit out for days and days until someone buys them. Which is ridiculous, because if you stand on your tiptoes, you can SEE someone defrost the burger, assemble it, and wrap it up ONLY when someone actually orders it, but I think that folks have the “heat lamp” image. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-year-old-mcdonalds-burger-found-looks-new-yuck/656691/16 "2013-04-25T23:25:17Z")
If it looks new, I’d say that’s the opposite of yuck. Rotted and covered in fuzzy green mold, that’s a yuck. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-year-old-mcdonalds-burger-found-looks-new-yuck/656691/17 "2013-04-26T00:11:56Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > He could have sold it for thousands of dollars but didn’t. That is the incomprehensible part to me. It’s garbage and he’s hanging on to it, because it’s amazing? :dubious: It’s incomprehensible that someone would want to keep it, but not that someone would want to buy it? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-year-old-mcdonalds-burger-found-looks-new-yuck/656691/18 "2013-04-26T00:19:48Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > It’s incomprehensible that someone would want to keep it, but not that someone would want to buy it? Heh. Good point. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-year-old-mcdonalds-burger-found-looks-new-yuck/656691/19 "2013-04-26T00:21:55Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > You know what’s in a McDonald’s beef patty? Beef and salt. Preservatives cost money, and they don’t need them because the beef is frozen until cooked. Do all fast food places freeze their meat? I thought some advertised that their meat was never frozen. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-year-old-mcdonalds-burger-found-looks-new-yuck/656691/20 "2013-04-26T00:42:06Z")
How do we know how old that burger is? Because somebody said so? I’ve got some bottom land I’d like to sell cheap. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-year-old-mcdonalds-burger-found-looks-new-yuck/656691.md?page=2)