McDonald's Is Bidding Farewell To Its Infamous McFlurry Spoons

If you've ever ordered a McDonald's McFlurry and accidentally attempted to use the square-shaped spoon as a straw, you're not alone – they definitely look like you are supposed to use them as straws. The iconic utensils are designed not as an awkwardly shaped straw, but as a mixer. Traditional ice cream machines require employees to clean the beaters between each prepared ice cream treat, but McDonald's found a way around that. By creating a spoon that could be attached to their ice cream mixer, employees could combine the contents of the McFlurry without any cross-contamination, leaving the mixing tool in each customer's cup as a spoon to use. This also allows employees to spend less time cleaning after preparing each ice cream order, although it has led to much confusion over its exact usage through the years.

Sadly, the next generation of McDonald's lovers will no longer be confused by this strange utensil – McDonald's announced that it will be getting rid of the McFlurry spoons. The change is one of the company's many recent attempts at becoming more sustainable and creating less plastic waste. The new McFlurry spoons will still be plastic, although they will be much smaller and extremely familiar. The franchise already uses the "new" spoons as utensils for the ice cream sundaes.

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.