We’ve read several myths on the internet about the very questionable quality of food served at fast-food restaurants. A Canadian mom has actually gone on to prove some of these myths, in an attempt to discourage her teenage children from consuming ‘junk’ food.
Melanie Hesketh, from Windsor, Ontario, has a McDonald’s cheeseburger sitting on her kitchen counter. It looks as good as new, except that it’s been there for a year. That’s right, a whole year. Nope, no mould, no fungi, no maggots. Apparently, even bacteria won’t eat the food that millions of people around the world queue up for, each day. According to Melanie, who is a professional nutritionist at Windsor’s Lifetime Wellness Center, the meat patty has just shrunk a little but otherwise looks edible. It has a faint but lingering greasy, leathery odor, and still smells slightly like a burger. Her trick has worked pretty well. The sight of the burger in their kitchen every single day has helped her kids cut back on their intake of fast food. In fact, her oldest son has visited McDonald’s maybe only twice in the past year, in spite of growing peer pressure.
Photo © Tyler Brownbridge/The Windor Star
The meat-patty is all fine, but I was wondering about the bun and the cheese. Surely, those should have gone moldy in at least a few weeks. Melanie reports otherwise. The bun has hardened, but is perfectly preserved along with the slice of cheese. She attributes this to the ‘astronomical’ amounts of salt and other preservatives contained in fast food. All this does make one wonder (once again) about the food served in places like McDonald’s. If the food never spoils, exactly how old is that burger that’s being served to us? In response to such questions, the company says on their website, “Despite the myths out there, our meat is very real!” They go on to point out that the meat used is “100 per cent Canadian, CFIA-inspected beef.” The meat is “sprinkled with salt and pepper at the restaurant during cooking. That’s it. No additives, fillers or binding agents,” they add.
Photo © Tyler Brownbridge/The Windor Star
It all sounds good, but no one can deny the evidence that proves the opposite. So the next time you’re about to bite into that big, fat, juicy burger, take a second to think about what might actually be in it.
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