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The McFlurry is a brand of flavored

ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as str ...

distributed and sold by the American-based international

fast food Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheated or precooked ingredien ...

chain

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

History

The McFlurry was created by

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

McDonald's franchisee Ron McLellan in

Bathurst, New Brunswick Bathurst ( 2021 population; UA 12,157 ) is the largest City in Northern New Brunswick, it overlooks the Nepisiguit Bay, part of Chaleur Bay and is at the estuary of the Nepisiguit River. As part of the New Brunswick local governance reform , e ...

, in 1995. In the U.S., the McFlurry was test-marketed in select regions in 1997. By March of 1998 the product was available to all U.S. and Canada locations and has been gradually introduced in other locations since then.

Preparation

The McFlurry consists of whipped,

soft serve Soft serve, also known as soft ice, is a frozen dessert, similar to ice cream but softer and less dense due to air being introduced during freezing. Soft serve has been sold commercially since the late 1930s in the US. In the US, soft serve is ...

McDonald's

vanilla Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus ''Vanilla (genus), Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the Mexican species, flat-leaved vanilla (''Vanilla planifolia, V. planifolia''). Pollination is required to make the p ...

-flavored ice cream in a cup. The McFlurry has a specially designed spoon with a hole in the handle which is attached to a blender. Various types of candy or cookies are added to the cup, which are then blended using the spoon. McFlurry flavors vary from market to market, and new flavors are introduced regularly. The ice cream in a McFlurry is the same that McDonald's uses for its cones and sundaes. The ice cream is made from

Ultra-high-temperature processing Ultra-high temperature processing (UHT), ultra-heat treatment, or ultra-pasteurization is a food processing technology that sterilizes liquid food by heating it above – the temperature required to kill bacterial endospores – for 2 to ...

(UHT) milk, extended with

methylcellulose Methyl cellulose (or methylcellulose) is a compound derived from cellulose. It is sold under a variety of trade names and is used as a thickener and emulsifier in various food and cosmetic products, and also as a bulk-forming laxative. Like cellu ...

. CNBC reported that, from late 2016, McDonald's started phasing out artificial flavors from its vanilla ice cream. The change was part of an effort to recover the more than 500 million customer visits it had lost since 2012.

Reviews

Despite calling the McFlurry "a quick-serve medley of gelatinous, innocuous ice cream that some reviewers might consider closer to caulk than dairy," Wil Fulton of the

Thrillist Thrillist is an online media website covering food, drink, travel and entertainment. The company was founded in 2004 and is based in New York City, United States. In October 2016, Thrillist merged with internet brands '' The Dodo'', NowThis Ne ...

ranked the M&M McFlurry at the end of his list of the 17 Best Fast Food Desserts.

The Daily Meal The Daily Meal is a food and drinks website. It is the first site launched by Spanfeller Media Group. Jim Spanfeller is a former CEO of Forbes.com. In 2016, Spanfeller was acquired by Tribune Publishing. Content The Daily Meal produces original co ...

put the Oreo McFlurry on its list of the Best Fast Food Desserts.

Controversies

Prior to September 2006, the opening of McFlurry container lids was of a size that caused some animals to become trapped with their heads inside the container. A small outcry in the UK, particularly to protect

hedgehogs A hedgehog is a spiny mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, in the eulipotyphlan family Erinaceidae. There are seventeen species of hedgehog in five genera found throughout parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in New Zealand by introduction ...

, caused a redesign in the container shape. After "significant research and design testing," the size of the opening was reduced to prevent entry of these animals. In 2019, McDonald's announced it would remove the lids as part of a move to reduce the use of

single-use plastics A disposable (also called disposable product) is a product designed for a single use after which it is recycled or is disposed as solid waste. The term is also sometimes used for products that may last several months (e.g. disposable air filter ...

by the chain. The program ''

30 Rock ''30 Rock'' is an American satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live'', takes ...

'' prominently featured the McFlurry in the plot of its season 3 episode 11 show, " St. Valentine's Day". The intentionally heavy-handed

product placement Product placement, also known as embedded marketing, is a marketing technique where references to specific brands or products are incorporated into another work, such as a film or television program, with specific promotional intent. Much of th ...

caused a controversy in the media.

Works cited

References

External links

Nutritional information for a sample McFlurry
{{McDonald's McDonald's foods Ice cream brands Canadian inventions Products introduced in 1997