The Reason McDonald's Doesn't Call Its 'Shakes' Milkshakes

McDonald's shakes have been a long term part of McDonald's menus around the world. From seasonal favorites like the Shamrock Shake to elusive secret menu shakes, there is a frosty, sweet treat for everyone at McDonald's. There is just one caveat: these drinks are specifically called "shakes", not "milkshakes".

This specific name choice isn't just a branding or marketing scheme. McDonald's refers to its milkshakes as "shakes" for legal purposes. Certain states have different dairy regulations, which happens to include what can and cannot be legally distinguished as a milkshake. To make things easier, McDonald's opts to simply refer to the drinks as shakes.

McDonald's specifically uses reduced-fat soft serve from its own brand to make its shakes. This may not sound like it matters, but soft serve does differ from custard or frozen yogurt. Whether or not a shake can be legally declared a milkshake depends on the ingredients used in certain states, so McDonald's circumvents this issue by just not calling the drinks milkshakes at all.

McDonald's is far from the only major fast food chain that has had to deal with state dairy regulations. While many fast food chains serve drinks that could be thought of as milkshakes, it really is not that easy to simply market a drink as a milkshake. As such, many chains have followed the same route as McDonald's and renamed milkshake products to avoid legal issues.

Several chains, like Burger King and Dairy Queen, also simply refer to their milkshake products as "shakes". Some chains have unique names for their milkshake products, such as Wendy's Frosty; this specific name distinction makes quite a bit of sense, as a Frosty is noticeably thicker than a standard milkshake.

Other chains still opt to call frozen drinks milkshakes, but whether or not any of these drinks are real milkshakes is disputed. For example, Chick-fil-A claims to serve hand-spun milkshakes, but technically these are not milkshakes based on dairy regulations. Chick-fil-A shakes use Chick-fil-A Icedream® dessert, which does not have as much milk as typical ice cream; as a result, Chick-fil-A's shakes do not always meet state standards in certain places.