This 10-year-old McDonald's meal still looks edible on livestream
What's the story
You may have heard that food from McDonald's just doesn't seem to age. The gossip has been around for quite a while. When Hjortur Smarason of Iceland heard it over a decade ago, he decided to put it to test. Smarason bought the last meal when McDonald's shut shop in Iceland back in 2009, and surprise surprise, it still hasn't decomposed.
Details
10-year-old burger and fries have grown no mold
The 10-year-old McDonald's meal is kept inside a glass cabinet at the Snotra House, a hostel in southern Iceland, and it doesn't seem to have aged much. Besides the paper wrapping, which obviously looks its age, the McDonald's meal has grown no mold, despite being 10 years past its sell-by date. You might even mistake it for your leftovers from mere days ago.
Quote
'It makes you think about what you are eating'
Speaking to BBC News, the owner of the Snotra House, Siggi Sigurdur, said, "The old guy is still there, feeling quite well. It still looks quite good actually." Sigurdur added, "It is a fun thing, of course, but it makes you think about what you are eating. There is no mold, it is only the paper wrapping that looks old."
Information
Several visit the hostel to see the indestructible McDonald's meal
Don't believe us? You can watch the live stream yourself at Snotra House's website. According to the hostel, many people from across the world come to see the meal for themselves. The website also gets around 4 lakh hits every day.
History
This 10-year-old meal has changed several hands since purchase
Interestingly, the 10-year-old burger and fries haven't always remained at the Snotra House. The meal was first kept in Smarason's garage inside a plastic bag for three years, before being donated to the National Museum of Iceland. However, the Museum wasn't equipped to preserve food so it was moved to the hostel. Apparently, the Museum staff complained that the guests were eating the fries.
Other experiments
Smarason wasn't the only who preserved his McDonald's meals
As interesting as it is, this experiment with McDonald's food isn't unique. In 1996, Karen Hanrahan bought a McDonald's hamburger that she claimed looked no different even 14 years later. New York photographer Sally Davies also documented the process of decomposition of a Happy Meal in 2010 and it looked the same years later! Guess it's true when they say, some things don't change.