McDonald’s may not be lovin’ a reported inquiry into its ice cream machines from the Federal Trade Commission.
Following years of struggles to keep the machines that make milkshakes, soft serve cones, and McFlurrys operational, McDonald’s received letters early this summer seeking information about the broken machines, the latest development in the Biden administration’s crusade to determine whether manufacturers of a range of products, from tractors to phones, impede owners from fixing products themselves, according to the Wall Street Journal.
McDonald’s is introducing new solutions, including new training resources and regular maintenance “checkups” for the machines, to help keep the machines running and assuage customers’ frustrations, the company said.
“Nothing is more important to us than delivering on our high standards for food quality and safety, which is why we work with fully vetted partners that can reliably provide safe solutions at scale,” McDonald’s wrote in an email to the Washington Examiner. “McDonald’s has no reason to believe we are the focus of an FTC investigation.”
OREGON MCDONALD’S TRYING TO HIRE 14-YEAR-OLDS DUE TO ‘STAFFING ISSUES’
The fast-food chain has acknowledged the problem in the past, alluding to the machines’ unreliability in a tweet.
“We have a joke about our soft serve machine but we’re worried it won’t work,” McDonald’s tweeted last year.
The broken ice cream machines have been costly to McDonald’s franchisees, with frozen treats making up 60% of the dessert menu, the outlet added.
The problem is so pervasive that software engineer Rashiq Zahid created mcbroken.com, a website that tracks which McDonald’s locations within the United States are suffering from broken ice cream machines. As of Friday, over 11% of McDonald’s ice cream machines within the U.S. were not operational.
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The fast-food chain has been plagued by other problems in recent weeks. On Thursday, an image emerged on social media of an Oregon McDonald’s displaying a banner asking 14-year-olds and 15-year-olds to apply due to “staffing issues.”
The FTC did not immediately respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
