McDonald's is scrapping its iconic McFlurry spoon after nearly 30 years

• McDonald's is ditching its hollow plastic McFlurry spoons in the US, it announced Tuesday.
• The current spoons serve a double purpose – they're used to stir toppings into the ice cream.
• McDonald's is replacing them with the smaller spoons used for sundaes, which it says use less plastic.

McDonald's is scrapping its iconic hollow McFlurry spoons after nearly three decades.

The burger giant announced on Tuesday that US restaurants would be ditching the utensil, starting this month.

A McDonald's spokesperson previously told Food & Wine that the spoons that are now being phased out were first introduced back in 1995. The spoons have been an object of intrigue for years, with diners wondering why they're hollow and what the purpose of the hook on the top is.

But McDonald's has previously set the record straight on the unusual design of the spoons: They double as spindles.

To make a McFlurry, McDonald's staff pour soft-serve ice cream into a cup and then sprinkle topping onto it. They then insert the hollow plastic spoon, which is attached to a McFlurry machine and used to mix toppings into the ice-cream.

But the chain's US restaurants are now transitioning to reusable spindles that are swapped out and cleaned after each McFlurry is made. The desserts will then be served with a smaller black spoon, the same one that McDonald's already gives out with its sundaes, which it says "uses less plastic."

"This small change will help reduce single-use plastic waste in restaurants," McDonald's said in a statement. The company announced last October that it was switching to compostable, paper-based McFlurry spoons in the UK.

According to a photo shared on a Reddit forum for McDonald's employees, the new spoon given to customers buying a McFlurry will be individually wrapped. The photo also appears to show that the new reusable spindles are pink, with employees instructed to use the spindles for four hours before swapping them.

Other steps McDonald's has been taking to cut back on plastic use include using paper-based straws, McFlurry cups without plastic lids, and introducing salad boxes and cutlery made from renewable fiber.

McDonald's US menu features two core McFlurry flavors: Oreo and M&M. It also sells a range of time-limited flavors.

Insider has contacted McDonald's for comment on whether this affects both corporate and franchise restaurants, whether the changes will be introduced outside the US.