Happy Meal project's starting results

I think it might be plausible, given the correct temperature/humidity combination and a clean room, the set meal might really become mummified... But that is just me. Perhaps someone here with more experience in food decomposition can enlighten us if this is actually possible.

Just look that the two pics 6 months apart! Scary indeed...

day1.jpg   34.69KB   15 downloads day180.png   398.1KB   13 downloads

More on the project here.

I'll do the taste test. With some ketchup of course, it will be just the same.

Dear Hongyun,

Your link generates a "Server not Found" window for me ?? (FFox)

(cf yr lower link which works perfectly)

Maybe i haven't purchased enough FLG recently ??

Rgds / Charles.C

Yes the link is broken for me too. IE.

My bad. Link fixed.

Dear Hongyun,

Nice post.

Did BigM suggest how rapidly the visual appearance should change ?

Is there a New York City in Iceland by any chance ??

I presume the lady has no (younger) family or pets ?

Kudos to the local Pest Control Service.

the food is plastic to the touch

Rgds / Charles.C

I'll do the taste test. With some ketchup of course, it will be just the same.

Simon,

Now that you know it is "hard as rock", do you still want to do the taste test, with ketchup?

Dear Hongyun,

Nice post.

Did BigM suggest how rapidly the visual appearance should change ?

Is there a New York City in Iceland by any chance ??

I presume the lady has no (younger) family or pets ?

Kudos to the local Pest Control Service.

the food is plastic to the touch

Rgds / Charles.C

Haha. I was thinking about the pest too. Can the Kitchen really be so totally free of pest that the happy meal is still there after 6 months? Or are the pests intelligent enough to know what is junk food and stayed away?

There was also another post, in reply to this article. A comment made by Jonah as follows:

No - I know people like to jump on fast food, but this one isn't unusual. And it has nothing to do with "preservatives"

Those french fries? Well, the reason they are browned is that is burning the top layer of starch so that it is crisp- that also makes it an unhospitable environment for any type of mold or bacteria to grow. Mold and bacteria need moisture - and that has been removed from outside layer of the fries and replaced with oil. Have you ever seen oil get mold? Of course not.

Pretty much the same story on the bun. Most white bread will go stale before it molds. This has more to do with the humidity in the room being low - and not much to do with the bun

As for the patty - well, again, browned food is cooked off - have you EVER seen a thoroughly cooked piece of meat get moldy? It just doesn't happen.

So overall - I can see why people who look for any reason to demonize certain companies and their food - but they were expecting something (of course, they never say what) to happen to this food and it didn't. That doesn't meant anything was wrong - only that they had the wrong expectations.

Sounds logical to me. Any microbiologist here to comment on the molds?