If you eat McDonald's after this, you're disgusting.

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Have you ever wondered what a McDonald's Happy Meal looks like after it's sat on a shelf (not in a freezer) for a year? This seems like one of those things I would learn accidentally, but writer Nonna Joann Bruso decided to find out on purpose.

The results? Not as disgusting as you might think, which itself is sort of disgusting.

She wrote:

It smelled delicious for a few days. I’d get a whiff of those yummy French fries every time I walked into my office. After a week or so, you could hardly smell it. My husband worried that when the food began to decompose, there would be a terrible odor in our home. He also worried the food would attract ants and mice. He questioned my sanity.

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.

The pitiful, slightly pained expression on the Littlest Pet Shop dog included with the meal says it all.

I find this hard to believe. The bread alone should have molded.

Shyra said:

Okay let's read between the lines: IT'S NOT REAL FOOD.

I had a shamrock shake and a medium fries last night from McDonalds.
The last time I ate there was a year ago yesterday, when I had the same thing.

Once a year is enough for me.

But it's got to be worse than that for ME not to eat it! Loves me some McD's cheeseburger and fries!

Folks need to understand the basics of food spoilage. To get moldy (or exhibit other visible signs of spoilage) the food must have a certain percentage of available water. Most bacteria (including clostridium botulinum) require available water of at least 0.91. Below 0.80 most molds cannot be grown and below 0.60 no microbiological growth is possible.

So all you've really demonstrated here is that the food is too dried out to develop the above kinds of spoilage. That doesn't mean it's safe to eat.

ernestsewell said:

Okay, now I'm embarrassed. I'm so fuckin gullible! But, hell. It looked real!

Shyra said:

No, I think it is real food (as in the food that McD's sells)--I think Ernest's remark is poking a bit of fun saying that McD's food is not real food.

Shyra said:

McDonald's has never served real food. Why are you surprised now? PRESERVATIVES have proven this story to be true. That is the burger and fries she bought a year ago. Anyone who thinks McDonald's is healthy or real food deserves the fat bottom they're sitting on. (remember that woman who sued them because her daughter was a tubbo?)

Poiple said:

Exactly. Food is so processed these days, that's it's not "food".

Here is what McDonald's site shows is in a cheeseburger.


Why the fuck is there high fructose corn syrup is BREAD? And all tha tother shit? Do you know that there's only about 8 items on a McDonald's menu that does NOT have some form of sugar in it? ONLY EIGHT, out of how many?????

Poiple said:

Oh, okay! My Alzheimer's has kicked in today!

Poiple said:

Yes, that's what Ernest meant.


Actually, all of McDonalds products(I don't like to call it food either), have petro-based chemicals in them to keep them perserved for VERY long periods of time---remember, these are standard items that get shipped all over the US (and elsewhere) which must keep their flavor---no matter what MickeyDees who walk into, all the food taste the same globally--that itself is an amazing feet for any restaurant chain.

I believe chicken mcnuggets even have formaldehyde in them.



Basically, your food has been 'embalmed' before it reaches your mouth.

TheVoid said:

dude, dont ever change, I meen it...

honestly Mcdonald's isnt my thing- but I will eat their fish sandwhich or chicken wraps with fries and a thick shake when I get a cravin'.

have you noticed how they have "freshened" up their appearance- they advertise with fresh salads, wraps, fresh fruit yogurt parfaits and bottled water.

thejason said:

I misspelled something didn't I?

ernestsewell said:

l wouldnt even entertain mcdonalds food or let alone eat them
all of them are processed food....

even the burgers are and tastes like rubber and horsemeat
how can u eat those or let ur kids eat them
lve heard from some people who actually have worked in mcdonald in the past told me it was true tht the burgers are actually made from horsemeat.....

now tht really is GROSS.....

I'm so glad I don't eat that shit.

I had some of that shit yesterday, enjoyed in enough, and don't have a fat bottom.

ya know...those micky dees buns don't taste real. something off about them. I like their fish filets but i try not to eat the whole bun. it tastes...i dunno...very airy and too soft or something. Almost like a cotton ball coated in gelatin or fat. when i go...it's for the fish filet or the fries. the fries don't taste as good since they stopped frying them in beef fat. fast food is overall bad and fake food (fillers, hormones, mystery meat) but if ya gotta go that route then probably taco bell or subway are the least evil. Maybe KFC if you get the grilled chicken or the chicken fingers. Fuck that milky ass cole slaw though.

I read a book by Morgan Spurlock he wrote after doing the movie documentary Super Size Me, and he talked about how before he did the movie he had a show on MTV called I Bet You Will which was sort of a lite knockoff of Fear Factor where he challenged people off the street to do silly stunts to win money. He wrote about how he attempted to play a prank on an MTV producer by hiding a McChicken sandwich in the producer's bookshelf. He thought that after a few days the sandwich would get rotten and start to smell really bad. He kept call the producer after a few days to see if he had noticed anything, and the producer kept telling him no. AT first he though he was just bullshitting him and didn't want to admit that the sandwich spoiled, so he just assumed that the producer was lying to him.

Well, MTV canceled his show six months later. About a year later Morgan Spurlock got a call from the MTV producer which indicated shock and amazement. The producer said that he was rearranging some books in his library, and he found the McChicken sandwich that Morgan had placed there. What was shocking to him was that, while the bun was turning into powder and the lettuce leaf looked like decomposed leaves, the chicken fillet itself was still intact and looked the same way it did when Morgan first bought it.

BTW, I read some report online about the company McDonald's buys its burger meat from. This company takes fatty tissue from the cows they slaughter which they used to throw away as unfit for human consumption and treat it with ammonia to get rid of all the e coli and salmonella germs, then grind it up and mix it into the regular beef as filler. From that point on, I said I would not eat any burgers from McDonald's. Worse yet, this same meat is being fed to children in public schools.

Never eat food that keeps like that. Food is supposed to expire.

I also won't eat those Uncle Ben's Bistro Express rice things. You can keep them on the shelf for years, and yet they contain meat. That's not right.

ernestsewell said:

i love how the toy emulates the food

Gross. Since I became a Vegetarian, I only go there for Coffee cuz it's cheaper then Starbucks. I think I'll go back to Starbucks.

SilverlakePhil said:

mcdonalds coffee has lard in it

I have two cheeseburgers and jumbo french fries a couple of times a month. I think that's fine considering all the healthy stuff I eat. Everything in moderation, even nasty junk food.

Cuddles said:

According to a friend of mine who works for Starbucks, the 'bucks coffee and McD's coffee is actually the exact same product.

meow85 said:

Some guy on Oprah the other day made a good point, similar to yours. "Food is supposed to die. Don't eat anything that won't rot. Don't eat anything you can't pronounce, don't eat anything your grandmother wouldn't recognize."

ernestsewell said:

Do you mean Michael Pollan? He's brilliant, and he's written several outstanding books on this topic.
[Edited 3/18/10 18:46pm]

ernestsewell said:

Generally I agree with that, but I always found the "don't eat anything you can't pronounce' bit a little condescending. Isn't that sort of assuming that most people can't handle multi-syllabic words? And what if you CAN easily rattle off the names of all the chemical ingredients?

meow85 said:

It's a general rule. You can't get too pedantic with it. He's also added a more general rule of avoiding any ingredients that a normal person wouldn't have in his or her cupboard. It's the same principle.

Efan said:

Yes, that's how I meant. He is right on the money.

meow85 said:

I don't think it's an assumption at all, and I don't believe it's condescending. It's a good rule of thumb, which usually allows for the ever-present sliding scale of give-and-take.

However, if you're going to have a choice between bread with azodicarbonamide, mono- and diglycerides, and ethoxylated monoglycerides or just flour, yeast, water, and salt, it's an easy choice, no?

If a person can rattle off those words, there is a good chance they also know where they are on the Level of Shit.

thejason said:

ya just gotta love it... what should we call'em?? Dan-isms? Danglish?? Voidles... nah, I happen to prefer Danglish...

CarrieMpls said:

Shamrock Shakes....seriously? I've been wanting to try those for a long time. I thought they discontinued them here.

Also you do realize that Margarine is 1 molecule away from plastic. you can leave it outside and flies won't touch it

IAintTheOne said:

If food doesn't attract ants, flies, and mice, you know you'd better leave it alone. Even shit attracts flies.

I sent this to everyone in my family last year. Some of them just don't care.

noimageatall said:

sad isnt it?

IAintTheOne said:

Yes...and if I hear, "Well, we all gotta die from somethin'!" again I'm going to kill someone.

noimageatall said:

lol then they would've gotten what they wanted right

As a side note: My friend is uploading Food, Inc. to his server today. I'm going to snag it and watch it this week. I have a feeling I'll be eating even more differently before the week expires.

IAintTheOne said:

so it's all good then!

IAintTheOne said:

that's why i don't use it! yuck!

IAintTheOne said:

This may be true, but there are lots of benign, ordinary things that are "one molecule" away from something else that is completely different. One example--hydrogen peroxide is not one molecule, but only one atom away from water. And you sure don't want to down a quart (liter for our metric friends ) of hydrogen peroxide.

FauxReal said:

me too!

shamrock shakes and fries are amaaazing

I get this odd reaction when I eat McDonalds. Part way through the meal I almost always hiccup. WTF is that all about?

This is basically the same result the guy got in Super Size me, too.

I've done my own experiments by losing a french fry under my car seat and finding it in perfect condition god-knows-when later

NDRU said:

I used to get that too! (Back when I ate it.) I could never figure it out.

there is a video on utube where the lady kept them for 4 yrs they never changed.

i really gotta stop eating this stuff. feel crap after eating it but it tastes good- i guess the best option is 2 make my own...what other options are there to a hamburger, storewise?

missmad said:

It's not that a hamburger is bad. It's the extra shit McD's puts in their food that makes it last for 365+ days. Go buy real beef at the store, or Bison meat (which is lower in fat and still tastes like regular beef of course - I just had a homemade Bison burger the other day, just added some salt/pepper/half/grated onion and garlic powder and grilled it) and make your own. (PS The grated onion into any beef adds flavor and moisture, especially if you're not using 80/20 beef which has a bit more fat for flavor, and that's okay).

McDonald's adds High Fructose Corn Syrup to their buns. SUGAR, highly concentrated! (And we wonder why it's addictive?!?!) Go buy wheat buns or use a heartier regular bread for yourself.

Add whatever condiments you wish, and make it how you wish. Hint: A little 1,000 Island dressing on it, it is just as good as the Big Mac's special sauce, although not exact. You can google near-recipes for the special sauce online).

The guy who wrote Food Rules made a good point.

He said he never deprives himself of anything he wants. However, it's HOW he gets it that has changed.

Example: Let's say you want french fries. How often do we REALLY want a good bit of fries? For the sake of argument, let's say twice a month (every couple of weeks). Instead of running out to get a large fry at McDonald's, he makes them.

If you HAD to make your own fries, how often are you willing to do that? Probably twice a month, I would bet.

So what to do? Grate, julienne, or cut your fries however you wish. Put them on a cookie sheet, toss them around with some oil, sea or gray salt, and pepper, and bake until done (or you can fry them up if you wish too - use peanut oil for more flavor). They're just as good, it fills your need for the salt or starch or carb craving you might have, and you worked for your food a little bit, so it's even more satisfying.

There's nothing better than making your own dinner, sitting down, and enjoying it.

YOU are your best alternative. And you won't feel like crap after you eat it.

I haven't eaten at McDonalds (or any fast food place for that matter) since I was about 14. And that's a really long time ago.

I don't understand why they have all these preservatives in their 'food'. Don't they bin it after it's been on sale for 10minutes? i know they used to, which in itself is disgusting.

McDonald's is fake.

i always order a happy meal on the side with my order "for my child". fuck this report!

Christopher said:

You still eat Happy Meals? I can't talk, I rolled up into BK the other night after work and got a kid's meal. They asked if it was for a boy or girl... I said "boy". It was Spiderman week.

meow85 said:

I'm hoping that didn't mean foreign food as much as it meant chemicals like
phenylalanylalanylglutaminylleucyllysylglutamylarginyl

evenstar3 said:

ernestsewell said:

thanks for all this hun, agreed homemade is best but what other options are there cause sometimes after 11 hrs u dont wanna cook anything.

yea i make my own fries sooooo much cheaper and u have a whole sack of real potato vs a small small bag of mcd "fries"

Guess I should have asked for the alternatives of a "hamburger"

ernestsewell said:

That's a great post!

ernestsewell said:

Food, Inc is GREAT.

And McDonald's "food" is fucking poison.

Basically after I became a teen, I made my own decision to not wanna go to McDonald's especially after mama's homemade burgers made the McDonald's burgers seem fake (that was before I *knew* the food was not real at all). And after watching "Super Size Me", why would anyone even eat that and then die from eating it 24-7?

ZombieKitten said:

minneapolisgenius said:

once we made mascara in science at school and I think we put that in it, we had to use that vacuum room, it STANK!

ernestsewell said:

Wow! It still looks fresh out of the box! The fries look like they havent aged at all! You know this is reason why I dont eat Micky Ds anymore. I heard and read some disgusting stuff about this resturant and IMO is should be illegal to even sell this stuff knowing that its not real food. Its some kind of process beef and all sorts of werid genetic stuff going on there that stays in your system for long periods of time never diguesting. Boycott McDonalds people.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/03/28/fatty.foods.brain/

Fatty foods may cause cocaine-like addiction

By Sarah Klein, Health.com
March 28, 2010 2:42 p.m. EDT

tackam said:

Oh, probably. But let's give them credit where credit is due.

Here's the scenario: I have to be in 4 different cities on the same day. At 11:53 a.m., I arrive at my second destination for a 12:00 noon appointment. And I'm starving, because I haven't eaten anything all day.

Solution? There's a McDonald's across the street! I run over there, buy a McDouble off the Dollar Menu, and wolf it down. I walk in the door for my appointment at 11:58 a.m.

Until somebody starts serving healthy food that efficiently, I don't know what else I can do. (Well, I could start eating breakfast more often....)

ernestsewell said:

To be perfectly fair, just about ALL store-bought bread has it.

My kids eat alot of break, so I go out of my way to find Arnold brand sliced bread that is the only decently-priced one out there that doesn't use High Furctose Corn Syrup.

Actually...it's hard to find ANY food out there that still uses real cane sugar nowadays. There's a bodega by my office that imports Mexican Coca-Cola, so occasionally I splurge $1.50 on a (real) bottle of Coke made with cane sugar.

ernestsewell said:

...and yes, this is disturbing!!!

PurpleDiamond2009 said:

It's obviously "real" food, but is so jam-packed with preservatives and additives that it's immune to decomposition.

Being in a free country, I reserve my right to buy McDonald's at my choosing. What SHOULD be made illegal is people who abandon common sense and eat - or worse feed their kids this crap on a daily basis.

Moderation people...moderation.

I'm not surprised. They put enough salt in their food to preserve entire dynasties of Egyptian kings.

The only thing I get from McDonald's is their Southwest Salad, and that's only every once in a while.

Not really a fan of the burgers, but I tried that caramel Frappe the other night after work. It was actually pretty good.

I'll eat one of those French Fries for $20.

AnckSuNamun said:

oww i been wanting to try that too.they need to serve breakfast all day is the business.

Acrylic said:

Does $20 cover the stomach pump?

PurpleJedi said:

I said one french fry.

PurpleJedi said:

I hope that never happens over here we still only have cane sugar to sweeten over here, we even have buses fuelled by ethanol made from cane sugar