Pictures of Six Year Old McDonald’s Mean Nothing

Every so often a picture shows up on social media of some McDonald’s food that has been left out for months or years without going mouldy or rotting and people use it as some sort of proof that there is some highly toxic preservatives that prevent any mold or bacteria from growing. There are plenty of reasons why you should not eat too frequently at fast food places like McDonald’s, but a picture of a preserved six year old Happy Meal is not one of them.

If you were to take an organic potato, peel it, cut it into little batonettes the size of McDonald’s French fries, deep fry them in the purest, most organic oil you can find, then sprinkle some kosher salt on them and leave them in a relatively dry place for six years they would look just like the fries you see in all those Facebook photos you’ve seen. Once something is dry it isn’t going to grow mold, and if you drop it in scalding hot oil, you will kill off any bacteria and mold spores which will prevent any growths from starting in the short time it takes for the food to dry out.

Why aren’t there any viral Facebook pictures of dried cranberries that don’t deteriorate after several years? Why don’t people send around pictures of a bowl of rice that looks exactly the same as it did 50 years ago? Why would anyone expect a dried piece of potato to be any different than a dried piece of rice? Nobody is appalled by homemade beef jerky will last for years in your office just like McNuggets, but it is much the same thing; it’s dried meat with.

I actually care about preparing healthy food for myself and for my two young children. I think that everyone should try to eat a little healthier and make sure their children are eating healthier food, but the way to do that is by disseminating objective facts and data, not by scaring people with misleading, attention grabbing pictures.

Why Do All Fast Food Restaurants Assume You Want the Combo?

I am a home cooking enthusiast who prepares most all of our meals from scratch, but I still very much enjoy a good fast food hamburger, particularly during working hours when I’m busy running errands. It’s just so tempting to turn into a drive through lane. They each have their own unique style of burger, but there is one thing that seems to unite every single fast food restaurant; a complete inability to contemplate that someone would ever consider ordering a burger without fries and a soft drink.

Almost without fail, whenever I order a hamburger the person will either ask me what I would like for the drink or if I would like to large size the meal. Then I have to clarify that it is just the burger that I want and they have to go and change the order, no doubt cursing me under their breath for being so difficult. It isn’t that I don’t like fries or soft drinks, it’s just that I enjoy the burger more and I don’t feel it is worth doubling the calories of my lunch to add the French fries.

What I find surprising is that it must be exceedingly rare for anyone to ever not get the combo. If people were regularly just getting a single hamburger I’m sure they wouldn’t automatically assume combos, but I get the impression that people must go weeks without every coming across a customer who declines to go for the combo. I understand that combos can be a good deal, but surely I’m not the only person who just wants to grab a burger to hold me over until supper?