McDonald’s quietly changed its vanilla ice cream recipe 6 months ago

McDonald’s gave its customers a bit of a sweet surprise when the company made a major improvement to its vanilla soft-serve ice cream. According to the fast-food chain, McDonald’s ice cream now contains no artificial flavors, colors or preservatives. Apparently, McDonald’s started using the new ice cream last fall, but just made the official announcement last week.

McDonald’s “Raising The Bar”

Changing the ice cream recipe is McDonald’s latest move to improve food quality and nutritional value.

“This summer we have a sweet surprise,” Darci Forrest, senior director of menu innovation at McDonald’s, said in a statement. “We’ve been raising the bar at McDonald’s on serving delicious food that our customers can feel good about eating.”

McDonald’s said nearly all of its more than 14,000 restaurants will be serving the new-and-improved ice cream soon.

Ice Cream Swap Part Of Broader Plan

McDonald’s ice cream isn’t the only food item getting a nutritional makeover. Chicken McNuggets no longer have artificial preservatives and sandwich buns no longer contain high-fructose corn syrup.

The fast-food giant also promised other nutritional changes including:

• McDonald’s chocolate and strawberry shake syrup will no longer have high fructose corn syrup.
• The chain is working to use only cage-free eggs by 2025. McDonald’s USA purchases 2 billion eggs each year to serve in its restaurants, according to the company.
• The company is introducing a new salad blend that includes chopped romaine, baby spinach and baby kale.
• McDonald’s plans to switch from frozen to fresh beef for Quarter Pounder sandwiches in all restaurants by mid-2018.

McDonald’s Keeps Eye On Future Improvements

McDonald’s keeps looking for new ways to improve the customer experience. Improving food quality is the tip of the iceberg. Customer service also plays a key role in McDonald’s strategy to boost its bottom line.

For example, mobile ordering, table service and digital kiosks are just a few of the customer service improvements McDonald’s plans to make. The restaurant chain even announced it’s testing delivery with UberEats this year. So, if you haven’t been to your local McDonald’s in a while, you may be surprised to find some upgrades on your next visit!