#McDonald’s restaurants may have more problems on their hands than just a busted ice cream machine.
Mickey D’s customers in the UK and Ireland are reportedly upset with the burger chain for switching to paper straws, claiming that the straws have been “dissolving” in drinks and making it impossible to drink milkshakes. The fast food giant reportedly switched from plastic to paper straws at their restaurants after customer pressure, @bbc reports.
An online petition calling for a return to plastic straws has so far received more than 35,000 signatures.
McDonald’s says they are “doing the right thing,” and a supplier said customers need to “compromise.” The restaurant chain supplies 1.8 million straws to its 4 million UK customers each day.
Martin Reed, the man who created the petition about a week ago, complains that the new paper straws dissolve as you drink them.
Reed got many social media users to co-sign that issue, with some claiming paper straws are “horrible” while one person said it is like “drinking a milkshake through an empty toilet roll tube.”
But there are some people who are riding for their favorite restaurant. Those people are defending McDonald’s decision, saying “be thankful none of those straws will be left to destroy our planet for the next 400 odd years.”
McDonald’s has said their suppliers have made paper straws that last “at least 30 minutes in most, if not all liquids.”
McDonald’s officials add that they are “pleased” to be “taking significant steps to reduce our environmental impact.”
One of McDonald’s paper straw suppliers says the straws will evolve as the industry develops.
“It is a relatively new industry in the UK and products will grow as raw materials improve,” said Mark Varney of Transcend Packaging in South Wales.
Roommates, are you paper or plastic when it comes to these straws? Let us know!
TSR STAFF: Christina C! @cdelafresh
