McDonald’s Reveals its 1950s ‘Special Water’ Secrets

McDonald’s was at the forefront of 1950s scientific research

Companies such as Coca-Cola and Google have created worldwide business empires based on closely-guarded secret formulas and computer programs.  Recently-discovered papers reveal that McDonald’s is also part of this elite group…

In the mid 1950s, the fast-growing McDonald’s burger chain was looking for a way to give its customers something unique.  Alongside its hugely-popular burgers, hot drinks were also selling well – but there was a problem.  Cups in the 1950s did not have the necessary heat insulation to keep the drinks hot for more than a few minutes.

In strict secrecy, McDonald’s approached NASA – which was also looking at heat retention issues for its upcoming manned spaceflight programme.  A two-pronged research strategy was conceived – looking at both the insulation properties of materials and also the physical properties of water itself.

After two years of intensive work, the team had developed ‘M-Water’ (or ‘Modified Water’), which had all the usual characteristics of the liquid, except for a boiling point of 200 degrees celsius not 100 degrees.  This was the breakthrough McDonald’s had been looking for, and it sealed the company’s reputation for serving extremely hot drinks that retain their heat for hours if not days.

‘M-Water’ fell into disuse in the 1980s as materials technology progressed, but some historians have drawn a parallel with        ‘Ice-nine’ – the fictitious water-based liquid (in Kurt Vonnegut’s 1963 novel ‘Cat’s Cradle’) that remains frozen at room temperature.  Whilst having possible applications for ice-cream vendors, Ice-nine also threatened to kill the entire human race by solidifying people’s blood when drunk.  So the idea was never pursued by McDonald’s or NASA.