The McFlurry is a brand-name of frozen

soft serve Soft serve, also known as soft ice, is a frozen dessert and variety of ice cream, similar to conventional ice cream, but softer and less dense due to more air being introduced during freezing. Soft serve has been sold commercially since the lat ...

dessert produced and sold by American-based multinational

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

chain

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

. It is served in a cup, with additional mixed-in ingredients such as candy and cookie fragments and sweet topping sauces. It was created in 1995 by Ron McLellan, a Canadian McDonald's franchise owner in Bathurst,

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

, and later introduced to the United States in 1997.

History

The McFlurry was created by Canadian McDonald's

franchisee Franchising is based on a marketing concept which can be adopted by an organization as a strategy for business expansion. Where implemented, a franchisor licenses some or all of its know-how, procedures, intellectual property, use of its busines ...

Ron McLellan in Bathurst,

, in 1995. The first McFlurry, which was

Oreo Oreo (; stylized in all caps) is an American brand of sandwich cookie consisting of two cocoa biscuits with a sweet fondant filling. Oreos were introduced in 1912 by Nabisco, and the brand has been owned by Mondelez International since its me ...

-flavored, was sold on June 7, 1995. After proving successful in Bathurst, McDonalds began offering the McFlurry at a number of

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

locations. In the U.S., the McFlurry was test-marketed in select regions in 1997. By March 1998, the product was available to all American and Canadian locations and has been gradually introduced in various other locations since then. Until September 2006, the McFlurry was served with a container lid having an opening that was of a size that caused some animals to become trapped with their head stuck inside the discarded containers. An outcry in the UK, particularly to protect

European hedgehog The European hedgehog (''Erinaceus europaeus''), also known as the West European hedgehog or common hedgehog, is a hedgehog species native to Europe from Iberia and Italy northwards into Scandinavia and westwards into the British Isles.Harris, S. ...

s, caused a redesign in the container shape. After "significant research and design testing", the company addressed the problem in 2006 by reducing the size of the opening to prevent entry of an animal's head. In June 2019, McDonald's announced it planned to stop using lids on McFlurrys in the United Kingdom by September 2019, as part of a move to reduce the use of single-use plastics by the chain. However, lids with circular openings are still being used in some other markets as of September 2023. ''

30 Rock ''30 Rock'' is an American satire, 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' ...

'' prominently featured the McFlurry in the plot of its season 3 episode 11, "

St. Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring a martyr named Valentine, and through later folk traditions it ha ...

". Although some commenters interpreted the prominence of the product in the episode as heavy-handed

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, it was later reported that McDonald's had not paid to have it featured, and the show's producers were even worried that McDonald's might sue them for featuring it without authorization.

Preparation

The McFlurry consists of whipped,

McDonald's vanilla-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 into the ice cream 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 (UHT) pasteurized 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 cell ...

. 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 referring to the McFlurry as "a quick-serve medley of gelatinous, innocuous ice cream that some reviewers might consider closer to caulk than dairy", Wil Fulton and Kat Thompson of

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described the M&M McFlurry as "the epitome of low stakes, drive-thru fun", placing it at the end of their list of the 13 Best Fast Food Desserts. Dan Myers of

The Daily Meal The Daily Meal is a food and drinks website. Launched in October 2010, it was the first site launched by Spanfeller Media Group, founded by former Forbes.com CEO Jim Spanfeller. In 2016, The Daily Meal, along with Spanfeller Media Group, was ac ...

included the Oreo McFlurry in its (unranked) list of 10 Best Fast Food Desserts, saying "You'd be hard-pressed to encounter anyone who isn't a fan of this sweet treat."

Works cited

References

External links