McDonald’s said on Wednesday that it would begin using chicken from birds that are not raised with antibiotics used to treat humans.
Because the struggling fast-food chain is one of the largest buyers of chicken in the United States – McDonald’s sells more chicken than beef – the move is likely to have a major impact on the way poultry is raised and the kind of chicken served by restaurants.
The shift toward offering chicken that is largely antibiotic-free is to be phased in over two years, the company said. It also announced that later this year, McDonald’s would give customers the choice of low-fat and chocolate milk from cows that have not been treated with the artificialgrowth hormone, rBST.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been increasingly vocal about its concerns about the use of antibiotics in animal husbandry as more and more bacteria and pathogens are showing resistance to such drugs. It estimated in 2013 that at least two million Americans fall sick each year because of antibiotic-resistant infections and at least 23,000 die from them.
The government’s concern has caught the attention of consumers, and food companies and restaurants are increasingly using “antibiotic free” labels as a marketing tool that sometimes allows them to command a higher price.
...
Antibiotic use policies of major chicken companies
Use of human class antibiotics
Millions of chickens
produced a week
HATCHERY
PREVENTION
GROWTH
Tyson Food
36
NO
YES
NO
Pilgrim’s
33
YES
YES
YES
Perdue Farms
12
NO
NO
NO
Koch Foods
12
YES
YES
YES
Sanderson Farms
9
YES
YES
YES
Wayne Farms
6
YES
YES
YES
Mountair Farms
6
YES
YES
YES
Foster Farms
6
YES
YES
NO
McDonald’s is somewhat late to the game, in part because its size makes it difficult to establish supply chains that can fulfill the demand in its 14,000 United States restaurants. It took the company two years, for example, to establish enough contracts to supply it with cucumbers when it added the vegetable to its menu several years ago.
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