McDonald's Happy Meal Remains Fresh . . . . . . . . After A Year!

The next time you swing by a McDonald's to get a 'Happy Meal', bear in mind that the burger and fries you get, may last as long as the toy it comes with - And, they may even look better! Don't believe us? Then read on!

The experiment was conducted by Colorado based, Joan Bruso, an author who writes about eating healthy. The grandmother of eight. who also blogs daily, came up with the idea when she was writing an article about a study that revealed that french fries comprise of 25% of the 'vegetables' consumed by American kids aged 2-18.

She decided to experiment with McDonald's because she had heard their meal could last for a long time. Her Happy Meal comprised of a burger (just the bun and a patty) and fries. She also received a lovely petshop pet dog,with its own yellow case, with her meal.

Pleased with her purchase, she took a photo and placed the burger and fries on a shelf in her office on March 6th 2009, ignoring her husband's concern that the amazing smell that wafted from the fresh french fries, would soon turn into a rotting stench, that would permeate the entire house.

Day after day, she walked into the office and blogged about her 'Happy Meal'. As expected, the fries stopped smelling so good after a few days. However, much to her husband's surprise, they did not start smelling or looking bad either.

Four weeks later, she took the 'Happy Meal' on a field trip to a local school. She had nothing to be ashamed of - it still looked as fresh as the day she had bought it!

Two weeks ago, she did what she quite hadn't expected to do - celebrate the Happy Meal's first birthday and guess what? Besides the bun looking a little crusty and the patty a little shriveled, it looked as good as it had, the day she bought it!

Ms. Bruno says that the area she lives in has very little moisture, which does help slow down the process of decomposition - However as we would all agree, a year seems like a really long time! She also noticed another interesting thing - Sometimes, when she opened the windows, flies and bugs would enter, and while they would sit on many different items in her office, they would steer clear of the 'Happy Meal'.

Why did the meal stay so fresh? According to Ms. Bruno, it is because the restaurant loads it up with too many chemicals - That's probably why it's called junk food! To read Ms. Bruno's entire blog go to www.babybites.info.

sources: babybites.info, dailymail.co.uk, www.momlogic.com