Moldy Fast food

[lorinatorthekittykat]

Hi,
I'm doing a science fair project on molding fast food burgers. I'm trying to see which one molds the quickest (thus being most fresh). Problem MY BURGERS AREN'T MOLDING. Have i done something wrong? I left them in a cardboard box and nothing happened. so I've tried to put them in plastic baggies. is there anything i can do?

[donnahardy2]

Hi,

Welcome to Science Buddies! This is a very interesting project, and I'm surprised you have not seen any mold. All foods eventually mold, but here are some ideas that might explain the problem. Since your project is due tomorrow, you will need to explain what may have happened in your discussion section:

1. Moisture. Molds require high water content, so if your burgers were kept uncovered, then they may have dried out. Adding water and keeping the burgers in a sealed plastic bag would allow mold spores to germinate. You mentioned that you have put them in baggies, so hopefully you have mold growing by now.

2. Time: Mold spores are ubiquitous, but it takes a few days for the spores to germinate and start to grow. If you kept the samples for less than 5 days, then there probably wasn't enough time for the mold to start growing.

3. Temperature: Molds usually grow best at ambient temperature, about 10-22 degrees Centigrade. Incubating at a higher or lower temperature, would inhibit mold growth.

4. Preservatives: Do you have a list of ingredients in the samples you testing? Perhaps there are preservatives such as BHT that are inhibiting the mold growth.
I hope this helps. Please post again if you have more questions.

Donna Hardy