There's something freakishly disgusting about this McDonald's Happy Meal

A picture of what appears to be a McDonald's Happy Meal from 2010 has been circulated on social media as a warning against fast food.

Jennifer Lovdahl, from Anchorage, Alaska, posted an image on Facebook of a Happy Meal she appears to have bought at roughly midday on 8 January 2010 - the packaging even boasts film advertising from the time.

She claims the cardboard box may well rot before the food does, having taken a picture of chicken nuggets and chips that are still very much intact.

Lovdahl wrote in the post:

It's been sitting at our office this whole time and has not rotted, molded, or decomposed at all!!! It smells only of cardboard.

Of course, we must point out it's pretty impossible to verify whether or not the meal was simply bought to put inside the box, on the day the image was taken.

The company did not immediately respond to i100's request for comment, however its website's FAQs section has addressed the issue of its food not rotting, explaining:

Food needs moisture in the air for mold to form. Without it, food will simply dry out – sort of like bread left out on a counter overnight to make croutons for stuffing.

You might have seen experiments which seem to show no decomposition in our food. Most likely, this is because the food has dehydrated before any visible deterioration could occur.

If genuine, the thought that McDonald's is permanent is pretty terrifying.

As is the thought of Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel memorabilia pervading social media.

Do you think the photo is genuine? Let us know in our poll:

(H/T Mashable)