McDonald’s Fries Don’t Decompose and other Silly Arguments
Posted by skeptologic on April 7, 2010
I’m really getting tired of people making stupid invalid arguments just to try to scare people into not doing certain things, like eating fast food or drinking soda. I am also particularly pissed off when these people and their dumb arguments end up scaring my wife. I am referring to things like a segment from the 2004 anti McDonald’s documentary “Super Size Me” by Morgan Spurlock in which he does what he thinks is a scientific experiment by placing a bunch of McDonald’s food in glass jars. After a couple of months, the french fries from McDonald’s do not get moldy or decompose at all. This clip pops up on blogs and facebook a lot and I always see comments like “zomg! I’m never eating McDonald’s again that’s effin nasty!” or “dude, there is teh nasty chemicals in doze fries for them to not get rotten.” It amazes me that people just accept these kind of claims uncritically simply because it is such a pop culture fad these days to bash fast food, especially McDonald’s.
Now since I am going to be critical of Mr. Spurlock I know exactly what people are going to say. I am only on the second paragraph of this post and I can already hear the arguments they are going to make. People are going to claim I am biased in favor of fast food and that I am saying that it is perfectly healthy and that it is what you should be eating all the time. So I feel like I need to address that ridiculous and obvious straw man argument ahead of time. Yes, I do enjoy the occasional fast food meal, and no I am not saying that fast food is good for you. There are many reasons why should not eat too much food (fast or not) that is deep fried or has little nutritional value like french fries. What I am saying is that there are ways to make that point without using meaningless invalid arguments that are just designed to frighten people.
So let’s get to the video. Morgan starts off by saying “We’re just going to give you an idea of how this food is breaking down in your body. I’m just going to put it in some jars and kinda show you how it breaks down on its own over time.” He then shows the food in various stages of disgusting decomposition over the next couple of months, a couple of weeks at a time. The only thing that does nothing are the fries from McDonald’s. But the silly thing is that after he makes that opening statement, about twenty seconds into the video, the whole “experiment” is rendered useless. I can’t believe I even have to explain this because it is so blatantly obvious, I am actually getting the urge to do the crazy internet commenter thing and do it in all caps. I’ll resist that urge and here it goes:
Your stomach is not an empty glass jar.
Showing how food, any food, does or does not decompose in an empty jar does not say anything about how your body breaks it down. First of all, when you put food in your mouth, you begin the process by chewing the food and mixing it with saliva. When the food reaches your stomach the gastric juices in there break it down. What’s left then goes into the small intestine where the nutrients are absorbed by your body. The rest then goes into the large intestine and then after some more time ends up in the toilet.
I know that many people are wondering why the fries don’t get moldy, as well as why the fries from another restaurant that he puts in another jar do. It has to do with how they are prepared. Guess what the fries did right before they were served to you, they took a bath in hot oil and were then covered in a lot of salt. Certain types of oil will inhibit the growth of microorganisms, and salt draws moisture away from food through osmosis, thus helping preserve it. Humans have been using salt to preserve various foods for thousands of years so you’d think people would know this. My hypothesis about the other fries is that since they were a lot larger than the McDonald’s fries they did not absorb as much of the oil, but there could be many other factors. The other restaurant may have used a different kind of oil, or used less salt, or even none at all so the customer could add as much salt as they wanted from the shaker on the table. Is it because there are “chemicals” in the McDonald’s fries? Well, since everything that exists in the universe is a chemical I have to say yes. In this case the chemicals are the oil and the salt, or maybe I should use salt’s scary sounding chemical name, sodium chloride. Ah, run it’s a chemical! McDonald’s also adds citric acid as a preservative. Oh my gosh, run, another chemical! Yea, a chemical that is also found it very high concentrations in those other really unhealthy dangerous foods like oranges and grapefruits. That was sarcasm, in case you didn’t pick it up. I have also heard people say that it’s “unnatural” for food to not decompose and that foods found in nature won’t stay preserved like that. Well, I beg to differ. A favorite sweetener of the all natural anti human crowd is honey. Even Mike Adams, the crazy conspiracy mongering nut from naturalnews.com has good things to say about it. Well guess what? Honey does not decompose either. They have even found jars of honey in Egyptian tombs that are many centuries old and are still good. Any conspiracy theories on that one guys? Are the bees being paid off by “big food” or the government to put dangerous chemicals in the honey they make? I guess that would be quite a stretch, even for the craziest of the crazy. I wonder if Morgan Spurlock ever realized that his little demonstration made no sense. He seems like a pretty smart guy and you would think so. If he knew that and still put it in his movie just for the shock value, then I seriously question his credibility and ethical standards.
On to another dumb argument used just for shock value and scare mongering that I heard recently. This one was on the television show “The Doctors.” Doctor Travis Stork, who I criticized before for recommending an herb for memory loss when studies have shown it does not work, was talking about certain foods you should avoid. One item on his list was soda. First he made a perfectly valid statement about how it was full of sugar and offered no nutritional value. He could have stopped there, but he continued with a little demonstration that was no better than the claims you see in many chain emails. He had an old car battery sitting in front of him with corroded terminals. He then poured the cola over the terminals and it dissolved away the corrosion. That must mean soda is actually corrosive toxic waste that will dissolve away your internal organs right? Wrong! The pH scale is used to measure how acidic or basic something is. The scale goes from one to 14, with one being the most acidic and 14 being the most alkaline or basic. The pH of cola is somewhere between two and four, which is pretty acidic. But it is not as acidic as the gastric acid that is already in your stomach which has a pH of between one and two. You would think that Travis Stork would know that since his is, you know, a doctor. Again, I am not saying that soda is good for you, just that this argument against it is invalid, misleading, and not necessary.
The bottom line is that if you want to make people aware that french fries and soda are not healthy there are perfectly valid arguments you can use. They are basically the same as many other unhealthy foods because they have lots of calories, little or no nutrition, and are chock full of saturated fat and sugar. But they are also not dangerous toxic poisons either. If you like them , you can have some on occasion, just don’t overdo it. If you use invalid and demonstrably false and unscientific arguments, it does nothing to advance your cause, it just makes you look stupid.
Zev Zwuurfman said
I can’t believe that I spelled my name incorrectly.
I am neither Republican nor Democrat, because from what party you are I can smell a rat. Similarly, I don’t wholly support conventional medicine nor do I support natural medicine. Rather, I like to take the best concepts from both.
Honesty is the best engine for health information and “science”. NOT the simple science stuff, which is proven, but the stuff that’s still UN-proven. For instance, I would rather have my Vitamin-D levels maintained throughout the winter, instead of heeding advice from “experts” who insist that I need to have a dangerous flu shot.. which does nothing as it now seems. Now for the meat:
..i LOVE fast food. Where would I be now if it weren’t for McD’s, Burger King, and more recently.. Wendy’s? The one BIG issue with most of fast food is that it’s caloric-concentrated. So now, I’ll steam-up some broccoli or risk eating some of the “triple-washed” pre-packaged salad (many of which have been shown to be very contaminated with e-coli and other nasty bugs). Or if I don’t have time to steam-up some broccoli, I’ll just eat a couple of apples. The ONE thing I will NOT order from these chains is a beverage. Not only are they relatively expensive, but the water & ice are highly-contaminated with bacteria. I’ll drink from a plastic water bottle and risk some phthalate damage instead.
One of the BEST sites for no-nonsense medical & health info is Mercola.com, plain and simple.
In one of today’s articles, Dr. Mercola points this out:
“Truth is Violently Opposed Before it is Accepted as Self Evident
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) was a German philosopher known for his philosophical clarity. I believe he made one of the most valuable observations on the shifting of human views when he stated that all truth goes through three stages:
First, it is ridiculed.
Second, it is violently opposed.
Finally, it is accepted as self-evident
This is not only true for health but all areas of life. However since my entire formal professional training is in health, I would like to share with you a dozen experiences from my professional career that validates Shopenhauer’s observation, and why I will not quit despite the efforts of my critics and detractors.”
It’s a good article !
skeptologic said
So what party am I from Zev? I’m curious to know and also curious to know your thoughts on my post, but you did not express any. You commented on what political party I might be from, talked about vitamin D and flu shots, said you love fast food and talked about what fruits and vegetables you ate, and then praised one of the biggest promoters of quackery on the internet. I don’t know why I even bother replying to your comments. Most of the time they just don’t make any sense.
Zev Zwuurfman said
the political party stuff..that was about me.. and I intended the “you” as third person, it wasn’t about you.. sorry about that. You know, when everyone’s thinking the same way, then no one is really thinking.. maybe one day you’ll have a moment of clarity regarding my senseless comments. keep up the good work, though.
Zev Zwuurfman said
..and one of my fav quotes is from Mr. Planck:
“An important scientific innovation rarely makes its way by gradually winning over and converting its opponents: What does happen is that the opponents gradually die out.”
James Bowers said
I don’t recall ever seeing that scene in any of my viewings on the movie. Is this a bonus feature on the DVD or a recent DVD release that has this scene?
skeptologic said
I remember seeing it when I rented the movie. I think it was a bonus scene.
Carol said
“The bottom line is that if you want to make people aware that french fries and soda are not healthy there are perfectly valid arguments you can use. They are basically the same as many other unhealthy foods because they have lots of calories, little or no nutrition, and are chock full of saturated fat and sugar.”
And can you prove that saturated fat is bad? It is certainly healthier (in small quantities) than the transfats that we’ve been eating.
Wiseguy said
And can you prove that?
Gianluca said
Hmm..I’ve seen reports of Mcdonalds bringing their beef in from a company that uses growth hormones on the livestock….can you validate any of this?
If this is true, that alone is enough for me to never touch the stuff again…..
Shanahan said
The only people who will watch a video like that and say “Oh my god, I’m going to stop eating fast food and drinking soda” are people with discipline…I see nothing wrong with using scare tactics to try and turn people with serious issues away from this crap…Have you ever seen the show “Scared straight”?
I USED to be a smoker and every time I went out on my break at work or during class, I swear someone would walk up to me and say, “You know, you should quit that, it’s gonna kill you (or it’s bad for you).” Whichever…Well, my point is when are we going to be allowed to walk up to someone snacking on a twinkie or a Big mac and say, “You know, you should quit that, it’s gonna kill you (or it’s bad for you).”
See my point. In a nation that is about to call obesity an epidemic and my generation is going to be the first to have a shorter life span than my parents, I see nothing wrong with trying to scare the weak minded into attempting to live a normal life.
We are animals, just like birds and cats and elephants, etc…We need diet and excersise just like any of those creatures would…To be honest, Mcdonalds (and many other corps) put skin carcass as filler into their ground beef that is coated with AMMONIA to prevent the spread of E. Coli or Salmonella…This is why I personally chose to stop eating fast food 1 year ago. That is not a chemical naturally found in the body. And if they are doing that and getting away with it, I can’t even imagine what they do to the rest of their food and unless there is a call to find out, I doubt we ever will know..
I see every point in this article as articulate and accurate, I do…But I also see the point in fudging the truth sometimes for the greater good…If a person that weighs 300 pounds read this article it would just validate his/her reasons to eat fast food and drink more soda…Ah, my point…
This is all a form of population control…To be honest, that is why the truth will never come out and obesity will become an epidemic…We can not limit the amount of children you have like Asia, but we can let you eat whatever Junk, crap, garbage we can produce in limitless quantities…This not only promotes obesity, but the things that come with it…Cancer, Diabetes type II, heart disease…And most people with this lack of self control are poor and this is what they can afford to eat…Ah, the second point…
This is also a way of getting rid of the “Waste”…A natural, lawful form of “Survival of the Fittest” who has more self control, the person who goes to Mcdonalds or the person that eats organic, chemical free food…Who can afford it? Who will have less of a chance of developing these diseases? Who “Probably” contributs to society more?
That is my point…I believe in scare tactics, because that is all the people affected have to try and turn them away…You personally may not be addicted to fast food, soda, or twinkies, but someone else is…So if scaring them with “Stretched truths” will help them to turn their life around, SO BE IT!!!
skeptologic said
Wiseguy said
The only people who will watch a video like that and say “Oh my god, I’m going to stop eating fast food and drinking soda” are people with discipline.
No. The only people who will completely change their viewpoint on a subject after seeing one targeted video are people who believe everything they see or hear without questioning anything or doing their own research.
On a different point, people with discipline would actually modify their behavior, not just express a desire to change. Tons of people make New Year’s resolutions to exercise, eat healthily, etc., but that doesn’t mean they have discipline. The ones with discipline are the few that are actually still exercising or eating right after weeks or months have passed.
We are animals, just like birds and cats and elephants, etc…We need diet and excersise just like any of those creatures would
Very true.
AMMONIA … is not a chemical naturally found in the body.
Incorrect. Your body naturally generates ammonia every day. It can often be smelled in urine and underarm sweat. Though your body does generate it, ammonia is a waste product. You are right to assume that it is not healthy to ingest ammonia.
This is all a form of population control.
lol. You are paranoid. However, it’s good that you are skeptical and question things.
mod101 said
Technically ammonia is not a waste product its converted to uric acid before you excrete is but yes the body does produce ammonia.
Robin said
@shanahan there’s a couple of other people who believe in scare tactics and mass population control, they’re called dictators and they generally live in countries where the entire population is suppressed. Just to get this straight you are actually saying that fast food is part of the process of evolution? That whether or not you eat fast food is part of the “survival of the fittest” theory? How does eating the occasional hamburger have anything to do with a species dying out? because that’s what survival of the fittest is about not about social classes. It’s actually pretty sick that you would consider people who are less economically fortunate waste, what have you done for society? what great thing have you accomplished other then the fact that you stopped smoking? which by the way is not all that impressive and wasn’t really done for society but by society because you did not do out of self discipline but under peer pressure making you actually more of a sheep then anything else.. kind of sad really when people just start typing and stop thinking
matt dickinson said
What about some of the other ingredients in the bread?
For instance, it has calcium sulfate, ammonium sulfate, calcium propionate and sodium propionate. The latter two are possibly related to its preservation, while the former two are unhealthy according to these sites:
http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/a6192.htm
http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/a5724.htm
^
“harmful it swallowed”
http://nutrition.about.com/od/changeyourdiet/a/calciumpropionate.htm
http://sci-toys.com/ingredients/sodium_propionate.html
Andreas Z. said
Excellent read, congrats. Anyone making an argument against McDonalds or fast food in general is automatically assumed to be right, and on “the good guys” side .Hardly anyone will attempt to see if the claim is backed up by evidence.
Jacob said
Hey wise guy, how about those people who will watch a video like that and will avoid fast food, just to be on the safe side. Are the people on the “safe side” gullible and uneducated people?
steveO said
this author is an idiot… first off i don’t eat fast-food because of discipline its because i can’t stand the smell, taste, salt, etc. I don’t put food into my mouth unless it resemble I don’t know, food perhaps. If i cannot pronounce an ingredient i will not eat it… That said why would i take some advise from a fat blimp on the “in fact: fast food phobia” video. The dude looks like he is a nugget away from a heart-attack. and don’t get me started about his hawaiian shirt.