The chosen bun: Decade-old burger's decay livestreamed in Iceland

A decade after McDonald's shut down in Iceland, thousands of online users follow the live slow decay of the last order -- a seemingly indestructible burger with a side of fries protected in a glass case like a precious gem.

The American chain closed its only three branches in Iceland during the subarctic island's financial crisis in 2009, making it one of the only Western countries without a McDonald's.

On October 31 of that year, just before the restaurant's closure, Hjortur Smarason bought a menu for conservation.

"I decided to buy a last meal for its historical value since McDonald's were closing down," Smarason, who works as a communications manager for a company specialising in space tourism, told AFP on Wednesday.

"I had heard that McDonald's never decomposed so I just wanted to see if it was true or not."
So with sufficient desiccation, they were "unlikely to grow mould or bacteria or decompose."