What a 1 year old Happy Meal looks like (that hasn't been kept in the freezer)

[mamapaparazzi]

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.

http://consumerist.com/2010/03/this-1-year-old-happy-meal-has-aged-surprisingly-well.html

[ahyesme]

odd

[babie113]

makes me wonder whats in it to keep it from rotting  apart from salt

[glitterteaz]

 Ick!!!

[ahyesme]

salt is a preservative

Quoting babie113:

makes me wonder whats in it to keep it from rotting  apart from salt

[MissBearNMonkey]

 Yep. And once all the water (which is the other main ingredient) evaporates, you're left with nothing more than a cracker and beef jerky.

I figured that out when I found what had to have been a six month old box of McNuggets under my passenger seat. I never knew they were there. No smell, nothing, not even mold. They were just rockhard nuggets.

Quoting ahyesme:

salt is a preservative

Quoting babie113:

makes me wonder whats in it to keep it from rotting  apart from salt

 

 

[EireLass]

Although McD's is yucky, I have a hard time believing this. Where are the bugs? Unless she kept it in an airtight container, bugs would have eaten some of it. If it's such fatty food, how come we don't see the white hardened fat sitting on the meat? I can't believe the bread wouldn't have mold. I'm not buying it. 

[mamapaparazzi]

Try it yourself - see if she's full of poo or not :).

Quoting EireLass:

Although McD's is yucky, I have a hard time believing this. Where are the bugs? Unless she kept it in an airtight container, bugs would have eaten some of it. If it's such fatty food, how come we don't see the white hardened fat sitting on the meat? I can't believe the bread wouldn't have mold. I'm not buying it. 

[Jessymessy]

thats gross

[Aamy]

Sheesh , sorry but this irks me. Do ppl NOT understand that food just DRIES OUT ??? So no its NOT going to rot or grow mold. She more then likely had it in a warm airy place, hence the fact she smelled it .... and it just dried out. Doesnt mean the food is horrible for you, it just means she put it in the correct conditions to DRY IT OUT. 

[Elyce225]

I was expecting green mold and a nasty furry burger, you're right, this is much worse.