An investor in the McDonald’s restaurant chain is demanding that the company eliminate all antibiotics from their meat products under the guise that these chemicals can endanger humans.
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The progress beginning with the Congregation of Benedictine Sisters of Boerne, Texas, comes amid developing interest from healthcare specialists that this overexertion of that drug use is donating to building amounts of deadly our problems from antibiotic-resistant microorganism named “superbugs”.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 2 million Americans contract antibiotic-resistant infections every year.
A new report by Friends of the Earth, the Natural Resources Defense Council and four other health organizations grades the major fast food and fast casual US restaurant chains on their use of antibiotics in their meat supply.
Changing how suppliers treat and raise animals would be a massive feat for McDonald’s.
The sisters withdrew a similar shareholder resolution shortly after McDonald’s US announced in March that within two years it would phase out chicken produced with antibiotics important to human health.
“US restaurant chains must take responsibility for how the meat they sell is contributing to the rise of antibiotic resistance”, said Jean Halloran, director of food policy initiatives at Consumers Union, the policy arm of Consumer Reports. Upon the announcement regarding the antibiotic free chicken, the sisters dropped a resolution that called for use of antibiotic free meant.
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She goes on to say, “We question why this important commitment isn’t also being applied to the beef and pork they source, as hamburgers are a mainstay of McDonald’s business”. However that step forward – while favorable – is still miles away from the group’s objective, said Sister Susan Mika, who represented the nuns at the McDonald’s annual meeting on May 21. This double-standard makes no sense to us, ” Sr.
