A US man has shown off a 14-year-old McDonald's hamburger that looks the same as the day he bought it.
David Whipple, from Utah, had originally planned to keep the burger for two months in order to show friends how its preservatives would maintain its appearance.
But, after accidentally leaving the product in his pocket for two years, Mr Whipple decided to keep the burger for even longer to see how long it could continue looking normal.
"It wasn't on purpose," Mr Whipple told US television show The Doctors.
"I was showing some people how enzymes work and I thought a hamburger would be a good idea. And I used it for a month and then forgot about it.
"It ended up in a paper sack in the original sack with the receipt in my coat tossed in the back of my truck and it sat there for, I don't know, two or three months."
However, Mr Whipple's experiment was then forgotten after the coat was tossed in a closet.
"My wife didn't discover it until at least a year or two after that. And we pulled it out and said 'oh my gosh, I can't believe it looks the same way'."
Doctors on the CBS show noted that aside from the pickle disintegrating, the burger showed no signs of mould, fungus or even a strange odour.
Mr Whipple admitted that at one point he had considered selling the burger via online auction site eBay.
But, despite bids reaching close to $2,000 (£1,300), he and his family decided to keep the product for educational use.
He now admits he uses the burger to convince his grandchildren not to eat junk food from restaurants such as McDonalds.
"It's great for the grandkids to see. To see what happens with fast food," he said.
一个美国人近日展示了自己14年前买的一个麦当劳汉堡，这个汉堡和当初他买的时候一模一样。
来自美国犹他州的戴维•惠普尔起初打算把汉堡放上两个月，目的是到时候让朋友们看看防腐剂是如何让汉堡保持外观的。
然而，他无意中把汉堡在口袋里放了两年，于是惠普尔决定把汉堡放得更久一点，看它还能维持正常的样子多久。
惠普尔告诉美国电视节目《医生》说：“我这么做不是故意的。”
“我是想让一些人看看酶是如何发生作用的，我觉得拿汉堡做实验是个好主意。我用汉堡做了一个月实验，然后就把它忘掉了。
“后来这个用纸包着的汉堡放在原包装里，连同收据一起装在我的外套兜里，而外套又被扔到我的卡车后厢中，在那里待了——我搞不清了——两到三个月吧。”
但是，在外套被扔到一个橱柜里后，惠普尔就把他的实验忘记了。
“直到至少过了一两年，我的妻子才发现它。我们把这个汉堡拽出来，惊叹道‘天啊，它居然还是老样子，真让人不敢相信’。”
哥伦比亚广播公司的《医生》节目指出，除了泡菜有腐烂迹象外，汉堡上看不到任何霉菌斑，甚至闻不到一丝奇怪的味道。
惠普尔承认说，他曾一度想把这个汉堡通过拍卖网站eBay卖掉。
然而，尽管后来买方出价高达近2000美元（合1300英镑），他和他的家人还是决定把这个汉堡留作教育用途。
现在他坦言自己用这个汉堡来说服他的孙儿们不要去吃麦当劳这种饭店的垃圾食品。
他说：“让孙辈们看看这个很不错。看看发生在快餐食品上的奇异景象。”