McDonald's has once again found itself mired in a bit of controversy about its food, this time due to allegations from an Alaskan mother who claims she is in possession of a 6-year-old McDonald's Happy Meal that has essentially stayed the same since the year she purchased it.
Chiropractor Jennifer Lovdahl said she left the Happy Meal in its original cardboard box since Jan. 8, 2010, as part of an experiment to show her patients how unnatural and healthy, McDonald's - and fast food as a whole - is, according to azcentral.com.
It's been 6 years since I bought this "Happy Meal" at McDonald's. It's been sitting at our office this whole time and...
Posted by Jennifer Lovdahl on Wednesday, February 3, 2016
"It has not rotted, moulded, or decomposed at all!!! It smells only of cardboard. We did this experiment to show our patients how unhealthy this 'food' is. Especially for our growing children!! There are so many chemicals in this food! Choose real food! Apples, bananas, carrots, celery. Those are real fast food," her Facebook post reads.
Facebook has been abuzz since she posted the picture, gaining more than 300,000 shares.
Although it hasn't been confirmed that the image is real, the claim of McDonald's food being seemingly ageless existed way before Lovdahl started her experiment. David Whipple of Utah is in possession of a McDonald's burger he purchased in 1999, which has seemingly refused to decompose 15 years later, and "last McDonald's burger in Iceland" - purchased in 2009 before McDonald's closed throughout the country - is on display at the National Museum of Iceland where it has remained without any symptoms of decay.
In these cases, the food's freakish level of preservation was blamed on active ingredients like preservatives and sodium. However, McDonald's USA addressed the ongoing decomposition misconception stating: "Actually it can [rot]. Food needs moisture in the air for mold to form. Without it, food will simply dry out - sort of like bread left out on a counter overnight to make croutons for stuffing. You might have seen experiments which seem to show no decomposition in our food. Most likely, this is because the food has dehydrated before any visible deterioration could occur."
