TIL that in 2020, Burger King ran an advertising campaign featuring a picture of a moldy Whopper, to prove that their burgers are made without preservatives. This unconventional advertising method worked, increasing sales by 14% (according to multiple sources.)
The biggest issue is, if it can’t mold, then there’s no way to know if you’re eating a fresh burger or one that was left out for a week. The reason it doesn’t mold is because they dehydrate the food so mold can’t grow without moisture. That also degrades a lot of proteins that would be good to consume. Dehydrated not molding food is good for ration food, not for comfort food.
That’s partially true. They use dehydrated onions but their buns and meat are never dehydrated. So that leaves a lot to be explained. The “meat” is heavily salted and frozen, as well as having a lot of cellulose (“wood pulp”) in it. The waxy paper wrapping also has a lot to do with it not degrading, as it makes it harder for bugs to get to. If you left a McDonald’s burger outside without the wrapper, better believe it’ll be mostly gone within a day or two.