A US man has shown off a 14-year-old McDonald's hamburger that looks the same as the day he bought it.

David Whipple, from Utah, had originally planned to keep the burger for two months in order to show friends how its preservatives would maintain its appearance.

But, after accidentally leaving the product in his pocket for two years, Mr Whipple decided to keep the burger for even longer to see how long it could continue looking normal.

"It wasn't on purpose," Mr Whipple told US television show The Doctors.

"I was showing some people how enzymes work and I thought a hamburger would be a good idea. And I used it for a month and then forgot about it.

"It ended up in a paper sack in the original sack with the receipt in my coat tossed in the back of my truck and it sat there for, I don't know, two or three months."

However, Mr Whipple's experiment was then forgotten after the coat was tossed in a closet.

"My wife didn't discover it until at least a year or two after that. And we pulled it out and said 'oh my gosh, I can't believe it looks the same way'."

Doctors on the CBS show noted that aside from the pickle disintegrating, the burger showed no signs of mould, fungus or even a strange odour.

Mr Whipple admitted that at one point he had considered selling the burger via online auction site eBay.

But, despite bids reaching close to $2,000 (￡1,300), he and his family decided to keep the product for educational use.

He now admits he uses the burger to convince his grandchildren not to eat junk food from restaurants such as McDonalds.

"It's great for the grandkids to see. To see what happens with fast food," he said.

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(Source: Telegraph)