One Alabama woman says she found something strange when she unwrapped her child’s McDonald’s cheeseburger, and it left her questioning how fresh it really was.
TikTok user Mrs. Curry (@yvette420) shared a video showing the sticker that caught her attention, one that appeared to give her kid’s meal burger an expiration time.
“So you mean to tell me McDonald’s making these cheeseburgers 24 hours in advance?” she says in the video.
The clip shows the label stuck on the wrapper: “Today is November 5th. So I guess they made this cheeseburger this morning at 5:58, and it expires at 5:58 tomorrow. Yeah. This is the kids’ meal.”
Commenters Offer An Explanation
Viewers rushed to the comments to help her decode the mysterious timestamp.
One user who said they’re a McDonald’s general manager explained what might be going on.
“McDonald’s GM here,” the commenter wrote. “The 24-hour sticker is for pickles. It must’ve slipped off the container when a team member was restocking the pickles on the line and onto a sandwich wrapper. We make all of our sandwiches to order, with the exception of fish sandwiches during Lent Fridays.”
Another person backed that up, saying, “Bro, there’s like a printer where you could print labels for by-dates. I work at McDonald’s and I can assure you it fell there by accident, or they were just messing with you because they don’t have labels for already-made burgers.”
“And I bet you fed it to your kid anyway too,” one person wrote.
Another commenter explained the actual kitchen process. “We are supposed to keep the cooked meat patties for cheeseburgers in holding for up to 20 minutes, and then toss any unused meat away for quality purposes,” they wrote.
@yvette420 ♬ original sound – Mrs. curry
Does McDonald’s Sell Pre-Assembled Burgers?
No, McDonald’s doesn’t make and store completed burgers ahead of time.
While many ingredients are prepped and kept warm for efficiency, employees typically assemble each burger after an order comes in.
That means buns are toasted, meat is placed, and condiments are added right before it’s handed to the customer. The patties themselves are cooked from frozen, then stored in a warmer for a short period, usually less than 20 minutes, before they’re discarded if not used.
As one worker mentioned in the comments, labeling is part of standard food-safety protocol. Most McDonald’s kitchens use time stickers on prep ingredients such as lettuce, cheese, sauces, or pickles to keep track of freshness. So, while the label on Mrs. Curry’s wrapper looked alarming, it was likely misplaced during restocking.
The Mary Sue has reached out to @yvette420 via TikTok messages and McDonald’s via email.
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