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.)
I really don’t understand the people who fearmonger about preservatives. Do you want food to go bad? Preserving things in salt and other methods are as old as cooking itself and are responsible for feeding people around the world in horrible famine times.
Not all preservatives are “salt” and not all of them are good.
For example, trans fats.
Sure, there’s plenty of preservatives we don’t use anymore because there are way healthier alternatives. But there’s also plenty of anti-science people who fearmonger about any and every preservative despite knowing nothing about its chemistry or even any claims of harm.
Fair point.
Trans fats aren’t preservatives are they? I thought they were for texture / taste.
deleted by creator
^Best answer. I majored very well in chemistry, a tiny bit less well in career, but this is the “cis” vs. “trans” explanation I was hoping to see.
deleted by creator
They technically have preservative properties because of the hydrogenation, but they really aren’t used for that purpose. You don’t fry things to necessarily preserve them better. It’s for taste/texture, like you said.
Idk, trans people are usually quite healthy.
Edit: The controversy in votes over an innocent joke is hilarious.
And yummy!
Wait, did I say that out loud?
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.
deleted by creator