McDonald's Is Giving the McFlurry a Tiny but Significant Upgrade

Jokingly deemed by fans as "McBroken" due to the fact that the soft serve dispenser is often unavailable — and even the source of a restraining order and an FTC investigation back in 2021 — drive-through devotees seem to have a love-hate relationship with the McDonald's ice cream machine. But when it's on, it's on. And we can't seem to get enough. However, the next time your local machine is actually online, you may notice a small but significant difference in your McFlurry.

Since its official launch in 1997, the McFlurry has been blended directly in the serving cup. A staff member would add ice cream to a cup, pop on the dome-like lid (to corral any splatters), then attach a large spoon to the milkshake mixer spindle to act as the blending piece directly in the cup. The McDonald's staffer would then remove the spoon from the mixer, leaving it in the cup and ready for the individual who ordered dessert to dive in.

Back in 2021, when the restaurant was offering a free McFlurry to anyone who "thought the spoon was a straw," a spokesperson told Food & Wine that "the McFlurry spoon was invented by an employee at one of McDonald's suppliers, Flurry International, in 1995 … Since then, the McFlurry spoon design has been an iconic part of the dessert's experience!"

However, that spoon is no longer a part of the equation. And for a very valid reason.

McDonald's revealed that starting this month, the company will be transitioning to serving the McFlurry with a smaller, black spoon that uses less plastic. (This utensil should sound familiar to anyone who has ordered a hot fudge or caramel sundae at the fast-food chain.) Instead of using the spoon as the mixing implement, each blender will be equipped with a reusable spindle that can be detached and cleaned between each use.

"This small change will help reduce single-use plastic waste in restaurants — while giving customers the same delicious McFlurry they know and love," the McDonald's team explained on its website.

This single utensil shift is part of a larger McDonald's goal to switch to more sustainable strategies and remove unnecessary packaging from their workflow. By 2022, across all restaurant locations, the brand was 81% of the way to its goal of sourcing 100% of its "primary guest packaging" from renewable, recycled, or certified materials.

"In Europe, we are reducing plastic use by redesigning items such as switching to paper-based straws, deploying new McFlurry cups without plastic lids, and introducing salad boxes and cutlery made from renewable fiber," McDonald's added, noting that it hopes to make similar green moves the M.O. at McDonald's in more markets soon.