Utah man reveals intact 20-year-old McDonalds hamburger | Watch News Videos Online (2024)

FAQs

How old is the oldest Happy Meal? ›

In 1979, after two years of test-marketing in the Midwest, the Happy Meal was launched nationwide.

Description. David Whipple, of Heber City, Utah, purchased a hamburger at McDonalds on July 7, 1999 and it still remains intact. He calls it "the world's oldest hamburger."

When left exposed to air, a McDonald's hamburger doesn't show signs of mould or decomposition. Mould growth requires certain conditions: mould spores, air, moisture, and a reasonably hospitable environment.

It all comes down to water activity. See, a McDonald's hamburger is small and thin, giving it a very high ratio of surface area to volume. It is cooked well-done on a very hot griddle. These factors contribute to rapid moisture loss, resulting in a burger that dries out long before it can start to rot.

$1.10 -- Cost of the first Happy Meal, introduced in 1979 as the Circus Wagon Happy Meal.

WHY HAS THE MEAL LASTED SO LONG? Like lots of processed food products, many McDonald's foods include added chemicals to the ingredients to make them last longer. This saves McDonald's money and means you can get your meals for cheaper than you would otherwise.

The oldest McDonald's restaurant is a drive-up hamburger stand at 10207 Lakewood Boulevard at Florence Avenue in Downey, California, United States. It was the third McDonald's restaurant and opened on August 18, 1953.

If it is refrigerated promptly (within two hours at room temperature; or one hour if surrounding temperature is above 90 °F), it can be safely kept for about three or four days stored in the refrigerator (40 F or less). If frozen, it should keep its quality for about four months.

Morgan Spurlock's 2004 documentary “Super Size Me” gave McDonald's perhaps the worst branding the Golden Arches has ever received. The premise of the award-winning film: For 30 days, Spurlock ate McDonald's food, three meals a day, to see what would happen to his body.

Without sufficient moisture—either in the food itself or the environment—bacteria and mold may not grow and therefore, decomposition is unlikely. So if food is or becomes dry enough, it is unlikely to grow mold or bacteria or decompose. Food prepared at home that is left to dehydrate could see similar results.”

Does McDonald's use leftover food? ›

As a result, our restaurants waste less than 1% of edible food stock. Unfortunately we can't send cooked food to be eaten elsewhere as this would breach our food safety policies, but we do send all leftover food for composting, rendering or anaerobic digestion.

Discard all perishable foods, such as meat, poultry, eggs, side dishes, or casseroles, left at room temperature longer than two hours; one hour in room temperatures above 90 °F. Once leftovers are stored safely, they will remain safe three to four days. For more information please visit Safe Handling of Takeout Food.

Fewer burgers are placed on the grill, which somehow results in a hotter, juicier, tastier burger, and the diced white onions are added to the beef patties on the grill as they are cooking, rather than afterwards at the prep table. The cheese has been “tempered” longer to make it meltier as well, Schafer says.

And so McDonald's bowed to the public pressure and changed their fry oil. But of course the story doesn't end there, because the oil they replaced the tallow with was hydrogenated vegetable oil, which not only didn't taste as good as the beef tallow but also contained a hearty helping of trans-fats.

The Happy Meal did not introduce the practice of providing small toys to children. When the Happy Meal was launched in 1979, the toys were a McDoodle stencil, a McWrist wallet, an ID bracelet, a puzzle lock, a spinning top or a McDonaldland character-shaped eraser.

The first boxes were circus wagons. The first toys were tops, stencils, wallets, puzzles and erasers. And initially, meals included a hamburger or cheeseburger, fries, a soft drink and cookies. So, there you go — Bob Bernstein of Kansas City, inventor of the Happy Meal.

McDonald's Has a New Adult Happy Meal, and It Comes With a Classic Toy. Happy Meals have no age limit. Jelisa Castrodale has been a staff writer with Food & Wine since 2019.