Antibiotic move could spread
“It really is welcome news for public health,” says Gail Hansen, a senior officer at Pew Charitable Trusts.
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EARNINGS
A decision by McDonald’s to curtail antibiotics use in its US chicken products could help trigger a broader food industry response to growing public health alarm around drug-resistant bacteria.
McDonald’s says over the next two years it will stop selling McNuggets and other chicken products in the US made from birds raised with antibiotics that are important to human health.
It continues to permit suppliers to use antibiotics that aren’t deemed important for human medicine.
Although the shift doesn’t apply to its burgers, McDonald’s is the biggest company to make such a commitment on drug use in livestock.
The change will apply to its more than 14,350 US outlets. Less sweeping changes will be made for its 22,000 overseas restaurants.
McDonald’s says it will work with chicken suppliers, including Tyson Foods, which says it has already taken steps to curb antibiotics in its birds.
“It really is welcome news for public health,” says Gail Hansen, a senior officer at Pew Charitable Trusts, which has long criticised the meat industry’s widespread use of antibiotics.
She says McDonald’s heft will require processors to change how chickens are raised, and likely make it easier for other restaurants and food makers to follow suit.
“It will have a ripple effect probably throughout the entire food industry,” she says.
Nevil Gibson for NBR Food Industry Week
Fri, 13 Mar 2015
Fri, 13 Mar 2015
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Antibiotic move could spread
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