McDonald’s to Curb Purchases of Chicken Raised With Antibiotics in U.S.
Move follows decisions by others to curtail antibiotics use
McDonald's Corp's U.S. restaurants will gradually stop buying chicken raised with antibiotics vital to fighting human infections. PHOTO:REUTERS
McDonald’s Corp. said its U.S. restaurants will stop selling chicken raised with antibiotics that are important to human health, one of the biggest moves yet by a major food company to address growing concerns over antibiotic-resistant “super bugs.”
McDonald’s on Wednesday said it plans to make the changes over the next two years, working with its chicken suppliers, which include Tyson Foods Inc., the largest U.S. meatpacker. The world’s largest restaurant chain said it would continue to permit the responsible use of antibiotics known as ionophores, which aren't used in human medicine, by its chicken suppliers.
The announcement comes just three days after Steve Easterbrook took over as McDonald’s chief executive vowing significant change at the fast-food giant to reverse two years of worsening sales declines that culminated in the retirement of his predecessor, Don Thompson . Mr. Easterbrook in recent weeks has told analysts that he sees himself as an “internal activist” who plans to create a “modern, progressive burger company,” and observers have been anticipating possible changes to the company’s ingredients to improve consumers’ views of its food.
McDonald’s heft as a chicken buyer will require big poultry processors to alter the way many producers raise chickens and likely makes it easier for other restaurants and food makers to follow suit, according to Gail Hansen, senior officer for antibiotics resistance research at Pew Charitable Trusts.
“It really is welcome news for public health,” Ms. Hansen said. “It will have a ripple effect probably throughout the entire food industry.”
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McDonald’s is the largest of a growing list of meat companies and restaurant chains to unveil plans to significantly reduce the use of meat products from animals raised with antibiotics—though some rivals have gone further by seeking to phase out all types of the drugs. In February 2014, Chick-fil-A Inc., the largest restaurant seller of chicken in the U.S., said it would stop selling chicken raised with antibiotics—including those that aren't critical in human medicine—over five years. Meatpackers including Perdue Farms Inc. have sharply curtailed their use of antibiotics in recent years, seeking to appeal to consumer demand for the products.
Tyson said Wednesday the company supported McDonald’s move and will work to supply chickens meeting the chain’s new standard. Tyson’s chicken operations have reduced by 84% the use of antibiotics also used in human medicine since 2011, according to a spokesman.
“The vast majority of the antibiotics used to raise our chickens are never used in humans,” the Tyson spokesman said.
More than two million Americans a year develop bacterial infections resistant to antibiotics, which kill at least 23,000 annually, according to a 2013 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Public-health leaders say the epidemic of antimicrobial resistance is a global health crisis, and pin part of the blame on the meat industry’s use of the drugs over many decades. The Food and Drug Administration in 2013 asked drug and meat companies to end farmers’ practice of feeding antibiotics to livestock to speed growth, though the guidelines allow them to continue using the drugs to prevent disease and treat sick animals.
McDonald’s also said Wednesday that it would offer customers milk products from cows that aren't treated with rbST, an artificial growth hormone.
“Our customers want food that they feel great about eating … and these moves take a step toward better delivering on those expectations,” said McDonald’s U.S. President Mike Andres.
The company’s plans were reported earlier by Reuters.
