Unhappy UK McDonald’s Customers Demand the Return of the Plastic Straw

McDonald’s customers in the U.K. demand a return to plastic straws

A group of McDonald’s customers in the U.K. is demanding the hamburger chain bring back plastic straws. McDonald’s U.K. began phasing out plastic straws in September and transitioning to paper straws, amid pressure from consumers, environmental groups, and in anticipation of new regulations on single-use plastic items. But as Munchies reports, 39,000 people have now signed an online petition asking the company to reinstate their beloved polypropylene drinking tubes. The petition includes some super compelling arguments like the fact that plastic straws allow people to drink a “milkshake proper” and “paper straws go all soggy in your drink.” While the number of pro-plastic straw signatures might seem impressive, a Sum of Us petition last year calling on McDonald’s to abandoned plastic straws fetched nearly 500,000 online signatures. Numbers don’t seem to be on the side of the pro-plastic posse.

And in other news...

• KFC started a website called chickendales.com for kids out there who want to confuse the woman that raised them on Mother’s Day with a personalized video of a sexy, Chippendales-style Colonel Sanders. This is the worst thing since creepy, CGI Colonel Sanders. [Food & Wine]
• Four Loko, a beverage that received an FDA warning, has introduced a new hemp flavored drink. It apparently tastes like “distilling the flavor of a soaking wet Baja sweater into an alcoholic drink.” [Esquire]
• In other KFC news, the fried chicken chain is now partnering with Cinnabon to make Cinnabon Biscuits. It’s the first new dessert at KFC since 2012. [Foodbeast]
• McDonald’s is rolling out an all-vegan, bleeding “Incredible Burger” at restaurants in Germany on April 29. The new patties were developed by Nestle last year. [Veg News]
• Chipotle may be on the upswing, but it hasn’t shed its reputation for foodborne illness outbreaks with the government yet. The company revealed this week that it’s received a new subpoena from U.S. federal prosecutors seeking information related to illnesses at the burrito chain’s locations in Powell, Ohio; Simi Valley, California; Sterling, Virginia; Boston, and Los Angeles. Shares dropped 5 percent following the news. [CNN]
• The FDA found that 21 percent of 89 ice cream production facilities inspected in 32 states in 2016 and 2017 came back positive for harmful bacteria. [People]
• PepsiCo has offered to end lawsuits against small farmers in India who the company claims were unlawfully growing its proprietary potatoes used for Lays chips. Activists and farmers associations have asked the Indian government to intervene, arguing that the farmers have rights to grow and sell registered crops. [CNN]

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