Welcome • User Guide
ToS • Privacy • Canary
Donate • Bugs • License

©2025 Poal.co

(post is archived)

[–] • 9 pts

The reason some foods don't grow bacteria or mold is due to the water content. The food industry term is "active water". A burger and fries have low active water so they don't develop the conditions to support bacterial colonies which require lots of water. If you bake a cake from scratch and leave it out uncovered, it won't grow bacterial colonies either due to its low active water. It's not about fast food being synthetic or whatever you want to attribute to the lack of bacterial growth on it, it's simply not a good medium to support bacterial colonies because it is so dry.

If people understood this process, they would realize Twinkies aren't forever because they still get hard and rancid from the oils in them even though they show no signs of bacteria or mold growth. Same goes for McDonald's food that has low moisture and high fat. But since people want to perpetuate the idea that fast food is extremely unhealthy, artificial and possibly not even actual food, they push this disinformation without researching the process in the least. Comparing a burger and fries to a watermelon like what is being shown here is very disingenuous since they are on opposite ends of the spectrum for active water. Leave some peanuts or almonds out for 180 days and they will show no signs of bacteria or mold just like the burger and fries. No one will do that because they know the results won't support the myth they want to perpetuate. Don't let them lie to you. Do your own research and learn about what's really going on here instead of spreading falsehoods and FUD.

[–] • 3 pts

This reply should be required reading in schools across the US.

[–] • 0 pt

oily nuts can and do go rancid

same with dried fruit since it isn't completely dried and is full of simple carbohydrates

[–] • 0 pt

Rancidity is oxidation of oils and fats. It's not bacterial or fungal. I did say the Twinkies would go rancid due to their oil content, and a reasonably intelligent person would extrapolate that and realize that nuts would as well given their oil content. I'm not sure what you're arguing here since I already mentioned how fatty, dry foods go rancid.

[–] • 0 pt

just pointing it out since you mentioned nuts

[–] [deleted] • 2 pts (edited )

really i get it, but a lot of this could be from high salt/sodium content.

all preservatives do is create a environment where mold cant grow. and like anything else as long as you are not eating lbs of it per day it just going to pass through you. You'd be suurprised how much botulism spores are seriously every where and its like the most deadest, it just cant survive in oxygen environment so it waits

and that is not bacteria, its mold

[–] • 1 pt

High salt content low moisture content. It's basically preserved. Conversely, WATERMELON!

[–] • 0 pt

I will eat a Whataburger and you go ahead with the watermelon.