McDonald’s French fries are undeniably one of the most iconic chain restaurant items of all time and considered by many to be the best in the fast-food business. So, it should come as no surprise that customers had a lot to say when they recently noticed a change to those legendary fried spuds.
In a Reddit post last week, a McDonald’s customer reported that a location in San Francisco’s Bay Area is now serving large orders of French fries (480 calories) in bags rather than the usual red cartons.
The post included a picture of the new fry packaging, which is labeled as “Large Fries” but looks similar to the paper bags McDonald’s already uses for its small fry orders.
The change took many customers by surprise given that McDonald’s hasn’t officially announced that it’s changing its large fry containers. Additionally, many were concerned that McDonald’s had quietly reduced the amount of fries in its large orders with the new packaging.
“LARGE?? That is a lie. So sad. But the size is printed on the fry bag so I guess it’s our job to adjust expectations,” a Redditor commented on the post.
“If that’s a large fries I’d hate to know what a small fries looks like,” another lamented.
These speculations stirred up plenty of outrage in the Reddit discussion, with some going so far as to call for a McDonald’s “boycott” over the change.
However, others pointed out that a packaging change doesn’t necessarily mean McDonald’s is serving fewer fries in its large orders. The exact dimensions of the bag were not specified in the Reddit post, but in the photo, the new packaging was taller than a Big Mac box sitting beside it.
A McDonald’s representative did not immediately respond to our queries for more details on the reported packaging change and whether the new large bags contain fewer fries than the old red cartons.
Though the chain has yet to comment on the new fry containers, it did recently confirm a packaging change for another iconic menu item: the McFlurry. Earlier this month, McDonald’s launched a new “mini” McFlurry size and more sustainable packaging for the blended frozen treat.
McDonald’s said the new McFlurry cups will move it closer to its goal of sourcing 100% of its primary guest packaging (certain disposable products used to package food at McDonald’s restaurants and given to customers in all ordering channels) from renewable, recycled, or certified materials by the end of 2025.
