However, I will tell you what I think: frozen patties with a lot of salt that are cooked well will last a long time, especially when they dry out. Buns with lots of preservatives will last a long time. French fries are bomb-proof. The recent "news" about it thanks to this one "artist" is the opposite of actual news.
Here are some links:
http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/15/can-happy-meal-meme-stand-up-to-the-scientific-method/
with my favorite comment (my emphasis)
"At issue here is the standing of fact in this country. While I would agree that it is true that a happy meal is not a good choice for regular consumption, the fact that it didn't rot under the conditions presented doesn't prove this. Sodium propionate added to a whole grain bun will inhibit mold (almost) as well as in a white flour one. A thin patty of grass fed, organic beef that is over cooked will dessicate rapidly, and show no visible signs of spoilage. Any food sitting inside is unlikely to suffer from infestation. You could have done this "experiment" 150 years ago using daguerrotypes of hard tack and jerky. Engaging in bad science only proves that you have an alterior motive and detracts from the very real issue of dietary quality. I don't like the facts being subservient to the message, regardless of whether or not the message is a good one. All this does is create a world where the truth isn't only irrelevant, but not even acknowledged; a ship adrift in a sea of B.S.
Cheers,
Bliss"
Clearly "Bliss" and I would get along. I like this comment from Sergio, too:
"Well, the burger dehydrated. It's not that surprising and is easy enough to accomplish with most dry-ish cooked foods at room temperature. The fact that it retained much of the same outward appearance as a relatively "fresh" burger off the line doesn't mean it's edible - it means, as Professor Nestle said, that it dried to the point that mold, etc could't survive. It has nothing to do with ammonia, or any of the other elements of McDonald's food that are supposed to render it unfit for consumption.
I'm not defending McDonald's food. I have been known to eat it a few times a year, but I'm under no illusions that it's good or good for me. That said, if I prepare fritters at home, and roast a relatively lean cut of meat until it's well done, and leave these out on the counter for months, they'd probably come out the same way. Once enough water has left the food and pathogens can't survive in it, you can leave them out for 137 days, a year, two years, whatever, and they're not going to change shape all that much.
Critiques of food safety or nutritive content should be based on science, not pure visual rhetoric."
I'm not defending McDonald's food. I have been known to eat it a few times a year, but I'm under no illusions that it's good or good for me. That said, if I prepare fritters at home, and roast a relatively lean cut of meat until it's well done, and leave these out on the counter for months, they'd probably come out the same way. Once enough water has left the food and pathogens can't survive in it, you can leave them out for 137 days, a year, two years, whatever, and they're not going to change shape all that much.
Critiques of food safety or nutritive content should be based on science, not pure visual rhetoric."
http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/10/the-burger-lab-the-myth-of-the-12-year-old-mcdonalds-hamburger.html
He's doing an actual experiment that might actually explain some causes and not just take photos,
and a friend sent me this: http://www.naturalnews.com/030074_Happy_Meal_decompose.html
in which some granola-eaters (just kidding) expound on the meme.
Seriously, people, are we this stupid or are just some of us?
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