McDonald’s – the world’s largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants – recently announced plans to source chicken that is free of human antibiotics. The corporation, which is one of the country’s biggest buyers of chicken, is trying to shake its image of offering unhealthy and unnatural foods. The transition to this cleaner meat will take two years.
Why this move now? It’s motivated by more than improving ingredient integrity. Fast-food rival Chipotle – the burrito chain that uses fresh and antibiotic-free ingredients – has seen its sales numbers soar while sales at McDonald’s have slumped for five straight quarters.
While McDonald’s announcement will certainly add more pressure on suppliers to change their farming methods, the move falls short in two ways. It won’t remove every kind of antibiotic from chicken, and it won’t affect other types of meat at all.
McDonald’s will continue to serve chicken treated with ionophores , which are veterinarian antibiotics given to sick birds. They’re used as a quick fix to treat diseases that arise from overcrowded and unsanitary farming conditions. And while ionophores don’t pose any threats to consumers, their continued use suggests the quality of life for McDonald’s chickens isn’t improving.
And McDonald’s has no plans to source beef or pork that are free of human antibiotics, meaning that Big Mac or McRib are likely to still contain them.
Exposure to human antibiotics through meat consumption has given rise to antibiotic resistant bacteria. Researchers warn that these “superbugs” could kill up to 10 million people worldwide by 2050 unless more action is taken.
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Web Links
Superbugs to kill ‘more than cancer’ by 2050
2 Ways McDonald’s ‘Quick Fix’ Antibiotics Move Falls Short
Photo, posted May 1, 2014, courtesy of Mike Mozart via Flickr.
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Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.