This Is Why McDonald's Hamburgers Last Forever And Never Rot

As documentation posted on the Internet has proven time and time again, McDonald's hamburgers and other foods can age for years and years without looking much different than they did when they were first served hot.

There's an explanation for why some fast food remains virtually unchanged when left out for years. (Also unchanged: how strange it is that people are willing to leave uneaten McDonald's in their homes for years to prove the theory.)

Kenji Lopez-Alt, a chef and the managing culinary director of Serious Eats, sought to test whether this trait was distinctive only to McDonald's and fast food offerings, or if hardly aging over the years is a common trait among burgers of all kinds.

As you'll learn in Business Insider's video above, burgers that appear ageless may not be so repulsive after all: The phenomenon is simple science, and there's a principle at work that humans have purposefully taken advantage of for years for perfectly healthy reasons. Watch to find out.

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