I'm starting to reconsider my McDonald habits. I mean - I don't eat that often anymore, but after watching Food, Inc and this - I'm really looking at their burgers and fries quite differently. What kind of super fries last so long as to look like THAT after .... 10 weeks? o.O
This rule applies: "Tasty food is not healthy. Healthy food is not tasty."
@Saykhia: NOT TRUE!!! LIU CHA IS SO TASTY AND ZOMG I MISS IT AND IT IS HEALTHY TO BOOT!
/calms down
I think I shall pretend that this only happens to McD fries, and not to fries from other fast food outlets. ;-)
I'm Hakka and I don't find lui cha tasty :P
Food with added preservatives can generally last a long time. We all know that most food have added preservatives!
And I think it isn't only McD fries that can last this long!
I don't want to comment much, but I think this can go both ways. It could be that McDs fries are really all that, and it could also be that the video was doctored to make McD look bad. We will probably need to question the motives from both sides to come up with a viable statement that we can place a certain level of belief on.
@Nick: It's not doctored. There was an exhibition not too long ago of McD burgers that had been kept in containers for years and years, and they looked exactly the same as the day they had been bought.
Ahh, found one link, can't find the blog post of the exhibition anymore. =(
Also, see Food, Inc:
If McD's fries were really that resistant to mold and fungus and bacteria, hey somebody better check out its potential as an antibiotic agent. Haha.
But yea, probably just the amount of salt preserving it eh...
Last but not least, as Paracelsus would say, all things are poison and nothing is without poison, it's the dose that determines whether something is poison or not
So, depends on how much you eat, I personally wouldn't worry too much about eating McD's occasionally... Worrying on the other hand, can be deadly ;)
Good idea. I might do that for Part II
Anyway, one also has to compare McD's preparations with other providers. Perhaps McD's friers are super efficient at displacing ALL the water molecules within the fries, hence rendering them unsuitable for bacterial life? Highly unlikely, but yeah, I suppose it might happen.
This whole experiment lacks controls. For one, where does McD source its fries? From the local supermarket like the seller on the street? Does McD make its own fries? A good test would be to fry "McD fries" and "normal fries" on the same machine, and then leaving them to rot. I think only then can we make a justified conclusion. There are just too many variables uncontrolled.
*Stats and epidemiology are getting to me, oh well.
For one, where does McD source its fries?
McD makes its own fries. It's part of the franchise agreement - you open a McD store, you get preprepared items that you can fry on the spot like the McD fries. They fry the fries (what a word) in a very typical machine ... though I believe there are slight adjustments such as timers to time the frying to precise seconds.
So, no. If you take a bunch of fries from the outside and fry them with the exact sam McD equipment, in McD oil (which are really not different from external fryers), I believe you'll get the same results (see video above, where the fries they got from outside turned black in a week). Because oil and frying technique can't possibly contribute to super longevity ... right? (That's speculation, but for the record I have never fried anything that lasted as long as 10 months...)
I think Wen Qi's got a point, though, when she says the salt content must've preserved the fries. Though frankly I don't remember McD fries as being that salty.
(I think it's rather strange to disclose this, but I felt like eating the 10-month-old fries, just to find out how the heck it tastes like.) ;-)
@Wen Qi: I like the quote by Paracelsus. I'd forgottenn basic things like that, really. =)
Again, we're speculating. This argument would not hold in a court of law, or in a journal. :)
@Nick: Did some more research at your prompting - at the moment, not many academic studies exist as to why McDonalds fries are so resistant to decomposition, however I've found a couple other interesting things that you might enjoy.
First, a blog post in a doctor's blog (also warning people to take the video with a pinch of salt ... pun not intended hehehe) and a Boing Boing blog post with commenters saying the same things (not a controlled experiment, glass jars aren't sterilized before use, however: lots of anecdotal evidence on both blogs as to finding McD fries in cars that have been there for a couple of months, looking perfectly crisp and new, even though obviously being in the car for a long time).
I also stumbled on this article that was originally published in The Atlantic: Why McDonald's Fries Taste So Good. It's a really good read, and quite meticulously done. Turns out I was wrong on a couple of base assumptions: the only difference between McDonalds fries and that of other fast food chains are the cooking oil used to fry them. The fryers, potatoes, and processing plants are all the same. So it stands to reason that either: a) something in the cooking oil produces this effect, or b) other fast food fries (sourced from the same plants) have the same resistance to decomposition.
at the moment, not many academic studies exist as to why McDonalds fries are so resistant to decomposition
Wow really! But it's like, so very important to know what we eat at McDonalds, cos like, yeah!
Sarcasm aside, the comment at Boing Boing blog post was good, particularly these parts:
Specifically, mold growth is a function of a variety of things, not just how many chemicals are in the food
In other words, the slower mold growth on the McDonald's food could easily be the result of it not having as much (or any) contamination in the first place. A clean kitchen, where the food is cooked to high temperatures, would result in this, neither of which are necessarily a bad thing
I like how it was commented that in the end, the McD fries were exposed to the diner fries and were found to decompose faster after that, implying that the diner fries were more contaminated, which basically means McD fries are, dare I say it, healthier.
Then in that case, we should try different oils (palm, sunflower etc) and try different machines (KFC's, SugarBun's) and do a proper experiment. Lol.
@Nick: But that still doesn't explain all the anecdotal evidence that fries left over in cars (which are anything but sterile) resist mold.
This actually does sound like a good experiment to do, to be honest. Doesn't cost much - I can get some sterile beakers from my aunt, and ... well what other controls would I need to have?
a sterile room with contant temperature even lighting with vacuumed flasks. LOL zomg i'm kidding :D
Lol, if you really want to try it.
Aim: Investigate the effect of the frying methods used by various fast food chains on the resistance of fries to mould.
Hypothesis: McD fries are most resistant to mould due to a special frying method.
Method:
1. Buy 1 kg of fries from local supermarket
2. Split the fries into 4 equal portions. As far as possible, equal sizes are maintained
3. Take portion A to McDonalds to be prepared, portion B to KFC to be prepared, portion C to SugarBun to be prepared, portion D to our local hawker centre to be prepared
4. After preparation, each portion is placed in a sterile beaker
5. Each beaker is tightly sealed.
PS If you want to investigate the properties of the machine and the machine only, make the cooking oil used a constant variable.
Regrettably, since it's not practical to purchase brand new machines, the results will also be a reflection of McD, KFC, SugarBun, local hawker dude cooking practices. Things like hygiene, etc.
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