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I actually find the fact that fast food doesn't easily rot to be reassuring. It means I'm a lot less likely to get food poisoning, since bacteria apparently doesn't grow on it. For example, you're more likely to get sick from E. coli in the lettuce on your burger than from the burger itself, since the burger has been through all sorts of artificial processes to make it safer to eat.
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"Anyone can be a winner if their definition of victory is flexible enough." - The DM of the Rings XXXV
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That's normal. It's cooked and being kept in dry conditions.
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I'm not sure that mummification is really that good for food ... and shouldn't signs of that process show?
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Rob Kelk
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It likely would, through closer inspection with all senses. However, the food was not produced "mummified". The fried breading/fries is simply prone to drying out, in a controlled environment like an office, before microbes can establish themselves.
Fast Food is not terribly healthy, but this is not the reason why.
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The Master said: "It is all in vain! I have never yet seen a man who can perceive his own faults and bring the charge home against himself."
>Analects: Book V, Chaper XXVI
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Honey doesn't age either. So?
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Part of it is preservatives. The other part is the food being made (that is, before it arrives at the store) in conditions where things are kept scrupulously clean wherever possible. (I've worked in a bake-factory before - it was something else! And while it did get messy, I would hazard to say most of those messes were actually edible still.)
Also there's the cooking itself in the restaurant. I've worked in McDonalds before, and if the crew is reasonably competent then I'll eat there anytime I need a quick bite. They work with absurdly wide margins on their food safety (wider than they really need to be) mainly to assure the food tastes good rather than is simply safe to eat. Trust me, McDonalds food tastes its best when management is scrupulously enforcing their 'food safety guidelines'. Will those beef patties still be safe to eat an hour from now rather than the twenty minute hold time in the warmer that is prescribed? Sure. They'll be a bit dry, but they'll certainly be safe to eat.
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... I want chicken nuggets now. Dammit, I just ate.
