According to CNN Business, the current mixing technology isn’t going anywhere, although it is getting a more sustainable model. Employees will now use a “reusable spindle that’s swapped out and cleaned after each McFlurry is made.”
Customers will then receive a smaller spoon that is said to use less plastic. While there has been no set date for when the traditional spoons will be completely phased out, some customers have already noticed the change at their local McDonald’s. On an international level, McDonald’s has moved to even more sustainable utensils like spoons and straws with recyclable materials. In the U.K. and Ireland, McFlurry spoons are now paper-based, while McFlurry’s in Canada are served with wooden spoons. According to a user on a Reddit thread, it makes the McFlurry “30% less enjoyable.”
While locations in the U.S. can still use a form of plastic, some speculate that it’s only a matter of time before all the utensils become biodegradable, taking after the paper straws that too often lose their form. Others are skeptical about McDonald’s motivations behind phasing out their iconic spoons – One Reddit user claimed, “Simply put, it was a cost cutting decision not an environmental one.”
Another asked, “Same company that went from paper cups to clear plastic just recently?”
Clearly, fans will miss the McFlurry spoon’s weird shape and sturdy plastic that allowed their ice cream to be mixed and enjoyed with one handy tool.