McDonald's ice cream is a favorite of their dessert menu. In fact, it makes up the majority
of their dessert menu. Strangely enough, it's been at the center of internet rumors and
conspiracy theories, too. This is the untold truth of one of fast food's most popular treats
- McDonald's ice cream.
If you swing through the drive-thru for a cone or a sundae and you think you're getting
the same thing you got on a hot and sunny afternoon during your childhood, well, we
hate to break it to you, but that's not exactly the case.
In 2017, the fast food giant admitted something that was actually pretty cool. McDonald's
changed its ice cream recipe six months before the announcement, and no one had noticed.
The changes came as a part of a massive menu overhaul designed to get rid of artificial ingredients.
While McDonald's said their soft serve was already free of artificial preservatives and
colors, the recipe change ditched the artificial flavoring. Darci Forrest, the senior director
of menu innovation, noted that it was a change they didn't take lightly. Forrest explained in an interview,
"We worked closely with our culinary team to ensure taste was not impacted."
And it worked! By the time they made the announcement, the rollout of the new ice cream was almost
complete, and it was in nearly 14,000 restaurant locations.
Good news, ice cream lovers! It's entirely possible that McDonald's ice cream machines
might be much more reliable in the future. And no, they're not actually replacing them.
According to Food & Wine, what's on the verge of happening is actually much cooler. A company
called Kytch has developed a sort of remote brain that can be attached to the machines.
Once it's connected, the machines can be controlled via smartphone.
The remote brain is also able to tell human employees when there's a problem, like when
the machines are overfilled or underfilled. It's also equipped with A.I. that can predict
when something's going to go wrong. That will allow franchisees to perform maintenance on
the machines before something breaks, which will keep them up and running on a much more regular basis.
No matter how much you love your favorite McFlurry, there are some international flavors out there that'll make your go-to seem super
boring. First, let's head over to Malta, where their McFlurry flavors are so good, you might
just need to add it to your vacation plans.
Stop at McD's in this island nation and you'll be able to choose from Baci, which is Italian
chocolate, Snickers, a biscuit and caramel creation, or a biscuit and chocolate McFlurry.
Sounds amazing, right? Meanwhile, Germany has gone the decadent McFlurry route, so fans
can get a brownie and caramel, chocolate raspberry, or a Kit Kat McFlurry with raspberry sauce.
"I love McDonald's because they've done a lot to, like, make a lot of healthy options
for people, if they want, like salads and whatever, but I don't eat those."
According to Truth in Advertising, the swing toward overhauling recipes to get rid of artificial
ingredients, like McDonald's did with their ice cream, has led to a slew of class action
lawsuits that claim products aren't using real vanilla at all. Things kicked off in
February 2019, and dozens of lawsuits have been filed.
McDonald's was handed their suit in March 2020, says Top Class Actions. That's when
a woman filed a suit claiming the vanilla in their ice cream isn't from vanilla beans
at all, but that it's a synthetic, taste-alike product called vanillin. The smoking gun,
the woman claimed, is that their ingredient list says it contains natural flavor, but
doesn't get into specifics on the source of that flavor.
It's also worth noting a few things: McDonald's isn't the only one to have their ice cream
targeted, as lawsuits have also been filed against Turkey Hill, Edy's, and Breyers. And
according to Scientific American, companies are fighting an uphill battle. The demand
for all-natural vanilla is increasing at the same time production is decreasing.
Pork products are found in a lot of sneaky places. Who would have thought that when you're
eating marshmallows and Jell-O, you're eating animal products? Knowing that, it's not that
far-fetched to think that maybe, just maybe, McDonald's ice cream has some pork products in it, too.
It's a rumor that pops up a lot: McD's ice cream is made from pig fat. But it's just
that - a rumor. McDonald's has addressed it officially, and more than once, saying that
it's just one of those myths that continue to be spread. McDonald's New Zealand even
went as far as to make a video in the hopes of making it clear to the public that the
only animal products in the soft serve are the dairy ingredients.
"I can confidently say that there's no pig fat or chicken fat in our soft serve or thick shakes, for that matter."
Seriously, is there a more disappointing way to finish off a Monday than to go to McD's
to pick yourself up a little reward, only to find out that the ice cream machines are
down yet again? What gives? According to The Wall Street Journal, it happens so often that
it's spawned conspiracy theories as to just why the machines are always down.
And it's not even just in the U.S. Customers at international McD's locations have the
same complaints. One of the most widely-repeated theories is that employees just can't be bothered
to clean the machines, so they just say they're down. But that's not the truth - although, cleaning is part of the problem.
McDonald's spokespeople say that the problem is that when those late-night cravings hit,
that's the same time of day that the machines are taken offline and cleaned, which is a
massive endeavor. It involves removing, rinsing, and sanitizing multiple parts, then running
an automated process that takes a while to complete.
That's only part of the problem, though, and franchisees report that the machines can be
fussy. At any given time, about 25 percent of the company's ice cream machines are, indeed, broken.
According to Snopes, rumors that McDonald's included some non-food ingredients in their
soft serve have been circulating since at least 1997. That's when it was first claimed
that there's no actual dairy in any of their dairy products. The claim was made by an email
writer who knew someone who was lactose intolerant, but could totally eat a soft serve cone. It is, of course, not true.
Other rumors include the weird one that McFlurries contain bird feathers and that they added
tiny Styrofoam balls to their ice cream as filler. One particularly gross rumor even
accused McDonald's of using cow eyeballs as a thickener in their milkshakes. None of these
things are true, but we'll give the rumor mill points for creativity.
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