McDonald's M&M McFlurry might soon go extinct - here's why

Show some restraint, America.

That's the message the Mars candy company (of all possible groups) may soon spread.

NBC News reports that the company is planning - or at least "weighing" - a change to how its candies show up in fast food desserts.

Right now you can walk into a McDonald's and buy a McFlurry milkshake with M&Ms swirled in. Or a Burger King and buy a Snickers-branded pie. Or a Dairy Queen and ask for an M&M "Blizzard."

All of those brands are made by Mars. But Mars is considering pulling these small pieces of sugary candies out of those larger piles of sugary food, as writer Rheanna O'Neil Bellomo laments in Seventeen.

In an email to Tech Insider, a Mars rep tells us whatever decision they do make, it will be part of the company's goal to bring their consumers' sugar intake to less than 10% of total daily calories - in line with World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations, among other groups. McDonald's did not immediately respond to our questions about the potential product changes.

Here's the logic behind a candy company claiming it can help cut sugar intake.

A McFlurry contains plenty of sugar on its own. Stir in a serving of M&Ms, with their 7.5 teaspoons of sugar, and the total sugar in that one treat exceeds the maximum 12.5 teaspoons of sugar that WHO recommended for your whole day.

And as we've reported before on Tech Insider, too much sugar can have devastating effects on your body, including (but not limited to):

• cavities (as any dentist will tell you)
• weight gain and obesity
• diabetes
• liver failure
• kidney failure
• increased risk of multiple types of cancer

All of this makes it hard to know how to think about this possible Mars move. Whether or not the company decides to lessen the intestinal sucker punch of fast-food ice cream, it's probably a good idea to cut back sugary junk food on your own.