Although people often say nothing lasts forever, Eduard Nitz and Cacey Dean’s so-called ‘Senior Burger’ seems to challenge that idea more than most things ever could.
Back in 1995, when the two were just 14 years old, they went out with some of Dean’s friends for a fun night. On their way home, they stopped at a McDonald’s for a quick bite.
Not wanting to waste it, the extra Quarter Pounder was handed to Nitz with a casual request to hang onto it until they all met up again in Adelaide.
Decades later, Nitz still has that same burger. It started out sitting on his desk, but over the years it’s been kept in a special box and passed around among family members since 1995.
So what does a McDonald’s Quarter Pounder look like after 29 years? The answer might surprise you — and you can see it in the photos below.
Incredibly, the burger has no visible mold, something the pair say is likely because it’s simply “too old for mold.”
Although the burger still resembles its original form, it’s definitely lost the texture and appeal it once had. What was once a juicy, soft sandwich is now something very different.
The meat and bun have become completely solid. To show just how hard it is, Dean bounced it off the side of the box where they keep it stored.
“Then, of course, it exploded, and we ended up all over everything…We get sent fan art so we got right into it.”
Since then, they’ve embraced the internet fame. In fact, there’s even a song about the Senior Burger on Spotify, and the pair say a full album is on the way.
“One of my neighbours, turns out he’s right into AI so we’re actually coding him up a personality so you’ll be able to talk to the burger as a therapist.”
“The whole this is pretty crazy, but it’s a legitimately old burger, so why not?,” Dean added.
Another person chimed in with: “I can see this burger is going to grave with 1 of them,”
A third added their thoughts, saying: “Woah I totally forgot about the cardboard rings which used to come around the burgers! That triggered a deep long lost memory. I wonder when that stopped.”
Australian nutrition expert Tim Crowe, who also works as a practising dietitian, once explained to ABC that the reason behind the burger’s long shelf life is most likely its high salt content, which makes it more resistant to decay.
“There is nothing insidious about the content of McDonald’s food here,” he noted.
