However, as there was no announcement from the company regarding its other meat products, the sisters have renewed their efforts and are asking the company to implement such a policy across the board.
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The siblings retreated a related stockholder quality resolution not too long McDonald’s Plant declared in March that during 24 months it could deprive hen made of antibiotics essential to physical health. “This double-standard makes no sense to us”.
However, the Congregation of Benedictine Sisters in Boerne, TX filed a shareholder proposal today that calls for McDonalds to go even further in eliminating antibiotics in all of its meat.
McDonalds received a grade of C in a recent report scoring restaurants on antibiotic usage.
“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”, says Sister Susan Mika who represented the nuns at the McDonald’s annual meeting on May 21.
Sr. Mika filed a similar request last December, but withdrew it after four months when McDonald’s promised to place antibiotic restrictions for chickens. The shareholder resolution comes as many health experts express concern over excessive antibiotics in commercial meat contributing to the rising number of life-threatening human infections that come from antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
On its website, ICCR says that it “engage[s] hundreds of multinational corporations annually to promote more sustainable and just practices because … they will secure a better future for their employees, their customers and their shareholders.”
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The report concludes that: ‘Top USA restaurant chains have a unique opportunity and responsibility to help tackle the antibiotic resistance crisis by using their considerable purchasing power to shift production towards meat and poultry raised without the routine use of antibiotics’. Every year, at least 2 million Americans suffer an antibiotic-resistant illness, and 23,000 of them die, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. When and if the bacteria spread to humans, it becomes noticeably harder to treat.
