McDonald's USA to Phase out Human Antibiotics From Chicken Supply, Offers rbsT Free Milk

05 Mar 2015 --- McDonald's USA has announced new menu sourcing initiatives including only sourcing chicken raised without antibiotics that are important to human medicine. In addition, McDonald's U.S. 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, an artificial growth hormone.

"Our customers want food that they feel great about eating -- all the way from the farm to the restaurant -- and these moves take a step toward better delivering on those expectations," said McDonald's U.S President Mike Andres.

McDonald's has been working closely with farmers for years to reduce the use of antibiotics in its poultry supply. This new policy supports the company's new Global Vision for Antimicrobial Stewardship in Food Animals introduced this week, which builds on the company's 2003 global antibiotics policy and includes supplier guidance on the thoughtful use of antibiotics in all food animals.

All of the chicken served at McDonald's approximately 14,000 U.S. restaurants comes from U.S. farms which are working closely with McDonald's to implement the new antibiotics policy to the supply chain within the next two years.

"McDonald's believes that any animals that become ill deserve appropriate veterinary care and our suppliers will continue to treat poultry with prescribed antibiotics, and then they will no longer be included in our food supply," said Marion Gross, senior vice president of McDonald's North America Supply Chain.

While McDonald's will only source chicken raised without antibiotics important to human medicine, the farmers who supply chicken for its menu will continue to responsibly use ionophores, a type of antibiotic not used for humans that helps keep chickens healthy.

"If fewer chickens get sick, then fewer chickens need to be treated with antibiotics that are important in human medicine. We believe this is an essential balance," Gross added.

In another move, McDonald's U.S. restaurants later this year will offer milk jugs of low-fat white milk and fat-free chocolate milk from cows that are not treated with rbST, an artificial growth hormone. The milk jugs are popular choices in Happy Meals.

"While no significant difference has been shown between milk derived from rbST-treated and non-rbST-treated cows, we understand this is something that is important to our customers," Gross said.

All of these actions are the latest steps in McDonald's USA's journey to evolve its menu to better meet the changing preferences and expectations of today's customers. In addition to the menu sourcing changes, McDonald's USA this week was announced as a founding member of the newly formed U.S. Roundtable on Sustainable Beef. This engagement is a critical step in support of the company's global commitment and effort to source verified sustainable beef.

"We will continue to look at our food and menu to deliver the kind of great tasting and quality choices that our customers trust and enjoy," Andres added.

Food Safety Director Caroline Smith DeWaal at the consumer lobby group CSPI welcomed the news. “The antibiotics used to treat illnesses in humans are the crown jewels of medicine, and their future has been imperiled by their reckless use in animal agriculture. Often used to promote growth and boost profits instead of treating disease, antibiotic overuse has led to the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and difficult-to-treat infections in people.”

“The announcement from McDonald's that it will require its chicken suppliers to phase out their use of these important drugs is excellent news for consumers. This move should have major reverberations throughout the meat and poultry industry. Major suppliers such as Tyson and Perdue have made similar commitments. This should inspire regulators to prohibit the overuse of medically important antibiotics in animal agriculture altogether. And I hope that McDonald's will now commit to using beef and pork from animals not treated with important antibiotics.”

The announcement today comes in response to growing US consumer demand for food made with natural ingredients only.  

McDonald’s is already experiencing the fall-out from this consumer demand, as consumers are increasingly switching allegiances over to companies such as Chipotle and Shake Shack, which highlight their ethically-sourced ingredients.

McDonald’s worldwide like-for-like sales, which exclude the effect of new restaurants opening, fell by a greater-than-expected 1.8% in January.

While food chain experts have praised this move by McDonald’s, many have also highlighted the fact that the chain has yet to fulfil a similar promise made back in 2003.

In 2003 McDonald’s said it “prohibits the use of antibiotics belonging to classes of compounds approved for use in human medicine when used solely for growth promotion purposes. Growth promotion Is defined as the use of antibiotics for any purpose other than disease treatment, control or prevention.”

It also pledged to reduce antibiotic use in its chickens in the UK and Europe back in 2001, but the company has confirmed that it does still use antibiotics in its chickens in these countries, according to media reports. 

In a statement, McDonald’s said: “Alongside today’s announcements from McDonald’s USA, McDonald’s Europe announced plans to phase out the use of those antibiotics that play a crucial role in the human treatment of specific and serious infections and diseases in our poultry supply chain.”

Speaking to the Guardian newspaper in the UK, Pamela Clough, the organiser of Public Interest Research Group’s Stop the Overuse of Antiobiotics campaign, said: “It’s a great step forward that McDonald’s has made this pledge, but it’s extremely worrying that they made similar promises more than 10 years ago and haven’t kept to them. Can consumers trust that they can make this change now? It will require tracking, it will require that we keep tabs on what they’re doing.”