Expression of the Day: Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind

June 22, 2026

Click any word to translate.

Is This The World’s Oldest Burger?

out of sight, out of mind: when you cannot see something or someone, you soon stop thinking about it, whether by accident or on purpose

In 1999, David Whipple bought a hamburger from McDonald’s in Utah. Whipple sold supplements that help the body digest food. He needed a prop to show people how food breaks down over time, and he thought a burger would be perfect. The burger had other ideas. After the talk, he put it into a coat pocket, hung the coat in a closet and forgot about it. Out of sight, out of mind. When he found it again two years later, he could not believe his eyes. The meat had not changed color, and even the bun looked normal. Today the elderly burger is about 27 years old, and only the pickles have rotted away.

Whipple’s timeless burger isn’t the only one. In November 1995, teenagers Eduards Nits and Casey Dean went to a McDonald’s in Adelaide. They ordered far too much food, and a friend could not finish his burger. As a joke, Nits said he would keep it until the friend came back for it. The friend never returned. Nits is still holding the burger today. The boys have become middle-aged men, and their burger just turned 30. It has not had an easy life. For about ten years, it sat in a box inside a hot shed, where the summer heat can pass 30 degrees Celsius. Through all of that, the burger has only shrunk and grown hard. It never grew mold, and it still has no smell.

So why do these burgers never rot? Many people think the answer is chemical preservatives, but the truth is far less dramatic. The patties are small, thin, and very dry. With so little water, mold and bacteria cannot grow. Instead of rotting, the burger slowly dries out. The secret of these immortal burgers is not preservatives. It is the simple absence of water.