eBay pulled a 6-year-old McDonald's cheeseburger and fries from auction after bidding for the meal reached $150 within several hours.
All foods sold on the site must have a "clearly marked expiration or use by date," which means this particular auction was in direct violation of eBay's food policy, but that was not something Ontario farmer Dave Alexander was considering when he decided to conduct a little food experiment, Fox News noted.
On June 7, 2012, Alexander decided to test ongoing rumors that McDonald's meals cannot go bad by purchasing a plain cheeseburger and fries from the fast food chain and keeping it so see how long it would last.
"I thought it was an urban legend," he said, but six years later the meal still looked almost fresh.
"The fries are stunningly good looking. The fries look like they were purchased this morning," Alexander told CBC's 'As It Happens' guest host Robyn Bresnahan. "The burger itself has darkened a little bit. The bun is about as hard as a hockey puck, but it looks just like it's brand new cosmetically."
For years the burger and fries have been aging on a cabinet in Alexander's office but the farmer and his wife are downsizing and were not prepared to keep the ancient meal around, so on Thursday he listed it on eBay for $29.
By 2 p.m. Friday, bidding had reached $150 and many were wondering if the meal was still edible, Fox News noted.
"I would highly recommend not," Alexander said. "This thing looks perfectly edible but it's been sitting in the dust for six years so don't, don't eat this thing!"
However, shortly after being listed on auction, eBay pulled the 6-year-old burger and fries from its site for violating its terms and agreements.
The question on everyone's lips is why McDonald's burgers appear not to rot?
Dr. Keith Warriner, the program director at the University of Guelph's Department of Food Science and Quality Assurance, took a crack at explaining this.
"Essentially, the microbes that cause rotting are a lot like ourselves, in that they need water, nutrients, warmth and time to grow," he said, according to Business Insider.
If these elements were removed, the microbes cannot grow or spoil food.
"In the example of a McDonald's hamburger, the patty loses water in the form of steam during the cooking process," Warriner continued.
"The bun, of course, is made out of bread. Toasting it reduces the amount of moisture. This means that after preparation, the hamburger is fairly dry. When left out open in the room, there is further water loss as the humidity within most buildings is around 40 percent. So in the absence of moisture or high humidity, the hamburger simply dries out, rather than rot."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.