McDonald's Makes A Big Change To A Popular Menu Product

McDonald's says it is giving its McFlurry ice cream dessert a makeover.

Along with updating its packaging, it is introducing a smaller size.

McDonald's is launching the Mini McFlurry next Tuesday at participating restaurants across the U.S.

The fast-food giant is also ditching the plastic lids. They will now be served in what the company calls a "more environmentally friendly" four-flap cup. It says the product redesign will reduce waste and help the company meet its goals of sourcing 100% of primary guest packaging from renewable, recycled or certified materials by the end of 2025.

"Packaging updates like this matter," said Michael Gonda, SVP, Chief Impact Officer of North America for McDonald's. "Not only is this a fun new way for our U.S. fans to enjoy the McFlurry; we're also moving one step closer to fulfilling our packaging and waste commitments."

The four-flap cups are already used in other countries, including Canada and Indonesia.

The beloved McFlurrys have a troubled history with many customers complaining they are often unavailable.

One ice cream fan even created a website that let McDonald's customers know if the McFlurry machine near them was working with an interactive map called McBroken.

The Federal Trade Commission looked into a long-time complaint of McDonald's customers in 2021 with an investigation into the reasons behind the chain's broken McFlurry machines.

A Wall Street Journal report indicated that the FTC wanted to know from the franchisees why the McFlurry machines failed so frequently.

The FTC investigation was part of a probe pushed by the Biden administration to look at products in a range of industries to see if manufacturers prevent their customers from fixing items themselves.

This past March, the FTC and the Department of Justice asked the US Copyright Office for an expanded exemption to copyright law for McDonald's franchise owners the right to repair the devices on their own.