How a Big Mac Became a ‘Historical Artifact’ in Iceland - The last Big Mac

[DGUtley]

How a Big Mac Became a ‘Historical Artifact’ in Iceland

A 12-year-old Big Mac, to be exact.

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IN 2012, WHEN MOVING OUT of his house, Hjörtur Smárason found in his garage a pair of old, mice-chewed roller blades, tools, boxes, and an untouched bag of food from McDonald’s, still in its paper bag. It had been sitting there for three years after Smárason purchased one last McDonald’s meal, a Big Mac and fries, on the day before the three outlets of the fast food chain in Iceland closed their doors in 2009. Surprisingly to him, the bag was in immaculate condition. Even the mice had left it alone.

Smárason says that he was reluctant to open the bag at the time, remembering the decomposed sandwich that once spent an entire summer at the bottom of his child’s school backpack. But upon opening the sack, “it looked like I bought it just 15 minutes earlier,” he says. “And the same with the fries, it all looked almost new. Just turned cold on the way home.”

It wasn’t long before Smárason realized what a treasure he had. “This was now like a historical artifact that belonged to Iceland,” proclaims Smárason. “The last McDonald’s burger in Iceland. And what do you do with a historical artifact? You put it in a museum.” The meal spent a year at the National Museum of Iceland before the institution worried that it would decompose under their care. (In 2020, McDonald’s put out a statement claiming that their burgers don’t seem to decompose due to a lack of moisture, instead of some nefarious preservative.) Smárason then gave it to the Bus Hostel Reykjavik, where the meal spent years on display. Now, it resides at another hostel, the Snotra House, in southern Iceland.

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https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/iceland-mcdonalds

[stjames1_53]

That should give people a clue as to what they are consuming from fast food pitstops.
This meal lasted 12 years plus and even the mice didn't want it..........

[Common]

BigMac fresh off the grill and put in a bag, SUCKS and I wouldnt eat it...open a big mac and take the meat or whatever it is and tear it...

[stjames1_53]

BigMac fresh off the grill and put in a bag, SUCKS and I wouldnt eat it...open a big mac and take the meat or whatever it is and tear it...

Hell, I question whether or not their bread products are good for my dogs.

[OLD GUY IN FLORIDA]

When I was in high school I worked in a grocery store. At the end of each day we would take the bread left over on the rack and transfer it to the "Day Old Bread Rack" and sell it for half price. By the third day the bread was far too stale to attempt to sell it. So, a standard loaf of bread would last three or four days at best. Today, you can buy a loaf of bread at the beginning of the month and continue to make sandwiches for at least a month, maybe more. It is not just fast food bread.

We are putting the embalmers out of business.

[RMNIXON]

When I was in high school I worked in a grocery store. At the end of each day we would take the bread left over on the rack and transfer it to the "Day Old Bread Rack" and sell it for half price. By the third day the bread was far too stale to attempt to sell it. So, a standard loaf of bread would last three or four days at best. Today, you can buy a loaf of bread at the beginning of the month and continue to make sandwiches for at least a month, maybe more. It is not just fast food bread.

We are putting the embalmers out of business.

Preservatives!

Not the healthiest stuff but in mass consumer society and modern chemistry it was going to happen.





And BTW I sometimes buy the day old bread because when refrigerated it last for some time. And I prefer the in store bakery stuff made on the spot.

[Peter1469]

I have been getting store baked bread. If it starts getting stale you can always use it with soups and stews.

[OLD GUY IN FLORIDA]

I have been getting store baked bread. If it starts getting stale you can always use it with soups and stews.

Or bread crumbs or bread pudding or croutons

[Dr. Who]

If mice won't touch it, it's pretty bad - they eat paper and the plastic on wiring.

[stjames1_53]

I have been getting store baked bread. If it starts getting stale you can always use it with soups and stews.

I make our bread.
I have my mom's recipe and when I bake it, I wrap in up in saran and freezer paper. Then I toss it in the freezer and take out a loaf as needed. It never gets moldy and is always fresh with each cut