A former McDonald’s chef has revealed how long it takes for one of the fast-food giant’s burgers to go mouldy.
Mike Haracz, who goes by @chefmikeharacz on TikTok and used to work in the McDonald’s corporate office, has been dishing out ‘insider information’ about the company on social media.
It comes after customers began questioning what’s really in McDonald’s food, prompting him to settle the debate on whether its products ever ‘go off’. YouTuber DebunkerSam shared a video titled ‘The decomposition of McDonald’s burgers and fries’ 13 years ago – and it still gets people talking today.
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In the five-minute clip, he placed McDonald’s fries and burgers into jars and documented the decomposition process. After two weeks, the fries look almost identical to when they were purchased, while the quarter pounder burger, chicken burger, and fish burger all begin to show signs of mould.
By week 10 week, while the burgers had decomposed, the fries still appeared intact. “Look at that!” he said. “What is wrong with that? there’s not even one spore on there, it’s not breaking down nothing. It looks like we bought them yesterday.”
Haracz then addressed the claims, stating: “In response to somebody saying McDonald’s burgers never go mouldy or go bad, buns do mould, actually. I’ve worked at multiple fast-food places and seen multiple mould-ridden buns.”
He continued, “They come into the store with mould sometimes. Well, that last part, that’s not great. That means you’re being shipped old buns or they have not been stored properly. But when anyone talks about the McDonald’s burgers never going bad that is false. A lot of times, what is happened is that the bun or burgers are becoming dehydrated.”
Haracz then clarified how McDonald’s implements mould inhibitors in its food to prevent it from becoming mouldy within a week or two if stored correctly. He remarked: “When everyone talks about them pulling out food from behind a seat that’s been there for a year or whatever, it’s a combination of dehydration and the fact McDonald’s cooks their burgers and its meats well done so there’s no raw protein.”
He concluded by adding: “There’s a lot less moist and fat in there. The fact they salt and season after it’s cooked so that salt is dropping the water activity. Salt absorbs any free moisture and that free moisture is what microbes and things use to grow.”
One commenter revealed: “I worked for a car dealership that took a trashed car trade-in. Two years later we got around to cleaning it. Found a McDonald’s cheeseburger that looked like it was just made. Zero rot. bugs didn’t eat.” Another user joined in: “Oh yeah, I’ve definitely seen mold on buns at my job we just threw them away.” A third commentator added: “As someone who’s worked for McDonald’s for 10 years, I’ve never seen a moldy bun ever. People don’t realise how much safety goes into their food.”
McDonald’s has been contacted for a statement.