# New cheeseburger urban myth? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 13, 2010, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-cheeseburger-urban-myth/535930 "2010-04-13T06:30:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-cheeseburger-urban-myth/535930/41 "2010-04-14T02:05:01Z")
> [@lazybratsche](#): > > Another possible explanation for the mold differences might be in how well the two different breads were handled before the experiment. McD will probably keep their restaurants cleaner than your average kitchen, so there will be fewer mold spores around. And the average fast food worker will probably be cleaner than somebody tooling around their kitchen at home – at the very least the fast food slave will be wearing gloves. And that hamburger bun probably was pulled straight out of a clean, recently-opened package. That homemade bread, however, was almost certainly made in a dirtier environment. It could be a week old, perhaps several days ago it was cut with a less-than-sterile knife. So, at the start of the experiment, the white bread could have had a lot more mold spores already on it, with a good long head start in starting their growth. > > Basically, this is a pretty bogus comparison without better controls. If this were an elementary school science fair project, I’d give it good marks. But the experimenter has a PhD in biology! She should know better. Without better controls, you can’t conclude anything. Y > > But that comparison is shit science. Right, McD’s is cleaner than almost any kitchen. There’s nothing wrong at all with McD’s food. Just like there’s nothing wrong with a Balony sandwich on Wonder bread with a large bag of chips. The fact that the McD’s food laster longer is a Good thing, means it was prepared in a cleaner environment. The problem with either is that they are bad for you if taken to excess. Fast food once a week is Ok, once a month is no problem, every day will kill you, especially if you eat too much at a sitting, which they encourage you to do.. **md2000** notes about portion size is right on. I could make up an entirely vegan diet that would kill you as fast- let us start with partially hydrogenated corn oil, iceberg lettuce and macadamia nuts. I see a Mythbusters epi coming up… ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-cheeseburger-urban-myth/535930/42 "2010-04-14T07:03:00Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Right, McD’s is cleaner than almost any kitchen. There’s nothing wrong at all with McD’s food. Just like there’s nothing wrong with a Balony sandwich on Wonder bread with a large bag of chips. The fact that the McD’s food laster longer is a Good thing, means it was prepared in a cleaner environment. > > The problem with either is that they are bad for you if taken to excess. Fast food once a week is Ok, once a month is no problem, every day will kill you, especially if you eat too much at a sitting, which they encourage you to do.. **md2000** notes about portion size is right on. > > I could make up an entirely vegan diet that would kill you as fast- let us start with partially hydrogenated corn oil, iceberg lettuce and macadamia nuts. > > I see a Mythbusters epi coming up… You think they’d actually go so far as to try to kill the Mythterns? Or is Buster going to be doing the eating? ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-cheeseburger-urban-myth/535930/43 "2010-04-14T11:06:00Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I could make up an entirely vegan diet that would kill you as fast- let us start with partially hydrogenated corn oil, iceberg lettuce and macadamia nuts. > > I see a Mythbusters epi coming up… Top it all off with a handful of raw unprocessed almonds, and two whole nutmeg nuts. You’ll hallucinate while you die of cyanide poisoning. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-cheeseburger-urban-myth/535930/44 "2010-04-14T14:48:31Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > I have personally seen an 8 year-old hot dog in a Ziploc bag which did not get a spec of mould on it; rather it (somehow) shriveled and dessicated. Preservatives and a non-“natural” outer casing, I suspect. They’re well-cooked already, and maybe the sealed outer casing didn’t provide much of anything palatable to whatever might have floated into the Ziploc before it was sealed. Addition to the “vegan diet that’ll kill you” - is adding rhubarb leaves (poisonous, while the stems are yummy) cheating? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-cheeseburger-urban-myth/535930/45 "2010-04-14T15:35:59Z")
That’s an interesting point about the portion sizes; since Jim and I have been counting calories, when we go out for fast food, I eat something small to fit it into my daily budget. A big burger and large fries blow my whole calorie budget for the day in one meal. I hadn’t thought about how portion sizes had changed there over time. And Torie would be the Mythbuster volunteering for that experiment. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-cheeseburger-urban-myth/535930/46 "2010-04-14T15:41:39Z")
Am I the only one who actually finds McDonald’s food _more_ appetizing after reading this? ---
**Author:** ![PatriotGrrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@PatriotGrrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotGrrrl)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-cheeseburger-urban-myth/535930/47 "2010-04-14T16:37:04Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Am I the only one who actually finds McDonald’s food _more_ appetizing after reading this? Not at all. yesterday this thread inspired me to have Burger King for lunch. Wow. I’d forgotten how _good_ that stuff is! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pudytat72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@pudytat72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pudytat72)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-cheeseburger-urban-myth/535930/48 "2010-04-14T16:49:51Z")
I went into a house that had been unoccupied for 5 months and found a loaf of bread that had no mold on it. The other statement that I have heard is to put a food item on the ground. If the ants don’t eat it, it’s not “real food”. I am happy to report that a few drops of a chocolate milk shake from Burger Street were very rapidly surrounded by hundreds of ants. The edges of the milk shake drops were black with ants. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotGrrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@PatriotGrrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotGrrrl)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-cheeseburger-urban-myth/535930/49 "2010-04-14T20:33:05Z")
Has anyone else noticed that the term “nutritious” has been changing in meaning? It used to have something to do with the chemical composition of a substance, but now it has more to do with… morality or… something. I’ve noticed people using the term “macros” to refer to macronutrient ratios, which is just as well since different people want food with different ratios. But we could really use a new word that means “having a lot of a variety of micronutrients”. ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-cheeseburger-urban-myth/535930/50 "2010-04-14T20:55:06Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > Go over to Europe and the drink sizes are tiny - a “large” McD soda in europe is the medium here. Nobody sells “big gulp” 32-ouncers (sorry, 1-litre…) We’ve gone from drinking 8 oz of sugar syprup to 32oz - any surprise about the size of north americans? Rising obesity rates are not an exclusively North American problem. ---
**Author:** ![flano1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f14d63/32.png) [@flano1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flano1)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-cheeseburger-urban-myth/535930/51 "2010-04-14T21:31:22Z")
[QUOTE: Just like there’s nothing wrong with a Balony sandwich on Wonder bread with a large bag of chips. [/QUOTE] Ah! Be still my beating heart! ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-cheeseburger-urban-myth/535930/52 "2010-04-15T00:17:50Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Right, McD’s is cleaner than almost any kitchen. There’s nothing wrong at all with McD’s food. Just like there’s nothing wrong with a Balony sandwich on Wonder bread with a large bag of chips. I think you mean _bologna_. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-cheeseburger-urban-myth/535930/53 "2010-04-15T00:54:15Z")
> [@Shmendrik](#): > > Rising obesity rates are not an exclusively North American problem. Yeah, but we’ve gat a good head start on the europeans… It’s kind of ironic that Disney World’s ride where people sat in little boats that were towed through the display - they had to raise the water level recently because 4 adults would often cause the boat to run aground nowadays… name of the ride? “It’s a Small World After All”. Another problem is this - we spend so much less on food. It used to be a few generations ago, the biggest items in the family budget were food and lodging. While mortgages have kept their place it’s mainly because of rising expectations - houses are so much bigger and fancier than 50 years ago; food, OTOH, cost so little it’s probably less than your technology bill. Add up Cable TV, cell service, internet, regular phone line, and long distance; plus any other fancy memberships like for your video games online - you’re probably paying almost as much or more for communications tech as you are for food. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-cheeseburger-urban-myth/535930/54 "2010-04-15T01:01:15Z")
> [@](#): > > She believes that the study of nutrition is overrated and that we should eat as our ancestors did. Now I gotta go out and club me a nice mastodon for dinner. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-cheeseburger-urban-myth/535930/55 "2010-04-15T11:47:24Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Now I gotta go out and club me a nice mastodon for dinner. Thus the origin of the Club Sandwich. ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-cheeseburger-urban-myth/535930/56 "2010-04-15T12:07:15Z")
(Not one nod to that yet. Not a one. You’re slipping, Dopers … ) To add my own tale of “why I believe McD’s food isn’t what it appears”, potatoes upset my stomach. Don’t know why, but they do. I usually abbreviate that to everyone (including my wife and kids) as “I’m allergic to potatoes” (even though that’s false, have not been confirmed as allergic to anything by a doctor yet). Don’t get me wrong, I like several kind of potatoes, I find perogies very hard to resist, and scalloped potatoes are simply mouth-watering nummy, but I do pay for it shortly after with a VERY unhappy tummy. (And yes, I am the only person on the planet who CAN “eat just one Lays” as it takes only about 2 or 3 chips for my stomach to voice its disapproval - hmmm, maybe I should win a few bets with that … ) Anyways, somewhat TMI done with, but necessary for the crux of my post. Since potatoes upset my stomach, I never order fries when I go out to eat in fast food restaurants _except_ at McDonald’s. During my teen years (so, we’re talking late 80s here) my stomach never complained about McDonald’s fries, but it would for any other restaurant’s fries. This leads me to be convinced that, at least at that time, McDonald’s didn’t use potatoes for its fries. (At least by my evidence, this is no longer the case, as McD’s fries upset my stomach as much as anyone else’s, and I have to avoid their fries as well (just as well, I found them far too salty anyways)) My sister’s ex used to work at McDonald’s, and he said they used turnips (but he was always a bit of a fancifier that one.) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-cheeseburger-urban-myth/535930/57 "2010-04-15T12:34:12Z")
> [@dhkendall](#): > > …anyways, somewhat TMI done with, but necessary for the crux of my post. Since potatoes upset my stomach, I never order fries when I go out to eat in fast food restaurants _except_ at McDonald’s. During my teen years (so, we’re talking late 80s here) my stomach never complained about McDonald’s fries, but it would for any other restaurant’s fries. This leads me to be convinced that, at least at that time, McDonald’s didn’t use potatoes for its fries. I would have thought it a safer conclusion (if one must be jumped to at all) that they just process them in some way different to everyone else (or at least all the others you tried). > [@](#): > > My sister’s ex used to work at McDonald’s, and he said they used turnips (but he was always a bit of a fancifier that one.) That one is raving bullshit, just like the patties-made-of-worms myth. Turnips are generally more expensive than potatoes. (Apart from which, it’s almost impossible to prepare turnips to resemble potatoes - they’re nowhere near starchy enough). ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-cheeseburger-urban-myth/535930/58 "2010-04-15T13:19:17Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Thus the origin of the Club Sandwich. Oh, that’s terrible. But I laughed. ---
**Author:** ![Kenyth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kenyth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenyth)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-cheeseburger-urban-myth/535930/59 "2010-04-15T13:37:46Z")
Considering how much bad publicity is to be had from food poisoning, and the loss to be had from spoilage, I would assume that restaurants use very strict processing, handling, and cooking methods. This would result in a nearly sterile end product. All the condoments are naturally anti-bacterial (ketchup, mustard, pickles). Once the thin meat patty and white bread dry up a bit, there will be little chance for a sizable microbial colony to develop. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-cheeseburger-urban-myth/535930/60 "2010-04-15T16:24:41Z")
> [@dhkendall](#): > > (Not one nod to that yet. Not a one. You’re slipping, Dopers … )\ I’m so embarrassed. :smack: You’re potato intolerant - I was feeling sorry for myself for being newly lactose intolerant, but I can take a pill and eat dairy (I’ve already tried it - no problem!), but I don’t think there’s a pill to help you digest potatoes. You have my deepest sympathy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-cheeseburger-urban-myth/535930.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-cheeseburger-urban-myth/535930.md?page=4)