The Real Reason McDonald's Burgers Don't Rot

Have you ever heard the myth that McDonald's hamburgers don't rot because they are full of dangerous chemicals? Well, I recently read an article by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt which shows that while McDonald's does not supply great food, there is no reason to believe their burgers and buns have anymore chemicals than the burgers and buns at an ordinary supermarket.

Barely any mold grew on these dry potato flakes

  J. Kenji Lopez-Alt made a homemade burger roughly the same size as a standard McDonald's burger and kept them both in the open air right next to each other for 25 days. Neither burger rotted because they both dried out! Since living organisms can't survive without water, it's no surprise that mold didn't grow. The faulty conclusion in previous experiments with McDonald's food that just won't decompose is due to bad experimental procedure that was all experiment with no control.

These wet potato flakes exploded with mold

   I recently conducted a few experiments myself on what conditions are best for growing mold, and I found warm, dark, and moist locations are far superior to dry, light ones. So it's no wonder that two relatively small burgers left out in the open dried out before mold had any chance to grow.

   J. Kenji Lopez-Alt also conducted another experiment where he kept both a McDonald's burger and a homemade burger in sealed plastic bags. This time both burgers rotted because the plastic trapped the moisture.

   While there are still countless reasons to dislike McDonald's and assume that their food is unhealthy, just read Fast Food Nation or watch Super Size Me, but the fact that their burgers don't rot isn't one of them.