10 Mar 2015 US: McDonald’s chicken gets new standard: no human antibiotics
McDonald’s new CEO sure didn’t take long to start fixing the food. Less than a handful of days after Briton, Steve Easterbrook, took over as chief executive of the world’s biggest burger chain, McDonald’s announced a new antibiotics policy and new menu sourcing initiatives for its 14 000 US restaurants.
The moves were publicly announced on last week, just after being privately announced to the 6 500 McDonald’s franchisees and suppliers attending a “US turnaround summit” in Las Vegas.
Over the next two years, McDonald’s will implement a new domestic program of only sourcing chickens raised without antibiotics that are important to human medicine. The overuse of antibiotics in meat is believed to contribute to the growing public health threat of deadly superbugs.
At the same time, the company said its US restaurants will also offer customers milk jugs of low-fat white milk and fat-free chocolate milk from cows that are not treated with rbST, the artificial growth hormone.
The moves come at a time McDonald’s is under increasing pressure from customers, investors and activists to improve the quality of its food. Smaller but feisty rivals like Chipotle and Panera already serve chicken raised without antibiotics.
While the moves were strongly-supported by the new CEO, Easterbrook, one of the most vocal proponents of improving the food at McDonald’s has been the chain’s US president, Mike Andres, who has been in that post since mid-October.
“Our customers want food that they feel great about eating all the way from the farm to the restaurant,” said Andres, in a statement. “These moves take a step toward better delivering on those expectations.”
Nutritional experts broadly applauded the moves — but want to see more.
“This is a landmark announcement in the fight to keep life-saving antibiotics working for us and our children,” says Jonathan Kaplan, director of National Resources Defense Council, in an email. “Hopefully this is just a start — the Big Mac and McRib will be next.”
“This should send a strong signal to all livestock producers that the public opposes the use of medically important antibiotics on farms,” says Michael Jacobson, executive director of the consumer group Center for Science in the Public Interest.
While suppliers can still use medically important antibiotics to treat sick animals, those animals would not be used in its food supply, says Marion Gross, senior vice president of McDonald’s North American Supply Chain. Farmers who supply chicken for its menu will continue to responsibly use ionophores, a type of antibiotic not used for human that helps keep chickens healthy, Gross says.
One nutritionist — who applauds the moves — says it’s really consumers who should take a bow. “What I find most interesting about this announcement is its rationale: It’s what consumers want,” says Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition at New York University. “Let’s hear it for consumer power.”
In a statement, chicken supplier, Tyson, said it looks forward to working with McDonald’s to meet its new standards. Tyson noted it has reduced the use of antibiotics effective in humans by more than 84 percent since 2011. The National Chicken Council also said in a statement that chicken producers have been working to phase out the use of antibiotics important in human medicine to promote growth in animals.
Source: www.khou.com; NY Times