An online campaign asking for an antibiotics ban is putting pressure on McDonald’s to implement a global ban on products derived from animals treated with antibiotics.
Advertisement
Mc Donald’s officials pointed out that it was too early to think of a clear objective of banning the use of all meat and milk products which come from animals which have been given antibiotics.
A McDonald’s 10 piece chicken McNuggets box is photographed at the Times Square location in New York March 4, 2015.
“We hope this action will encourage McDonald’s to supersize their ambition”, ShareAction CEO Catherine Howarth said, according to Reuters. It added the British government, in a research paper, called the practice “excessive and inappropriate” and could lead to a public health crisis of drug-resistant infections, costing the world $100 trillion in lost output by 2050.
“We continue to regularly review this issue”, the statement said.
In April, investors with over $1 trillion in assets under management wrote to McDonald’s, along with nine other United States and UK companies, requesting that they end the routine use of antibiotics important to human health in global meat and poultry supply chains.
The use of antibiotics to pre-empt illness and aid growth rather than treat infections has become widespread across the farming industry, contributing to the growth of so-called superbug infections where antibiotics become useless in the treatment of human patients. “McDonald’s has an opportunity to demonstrate global leadership by committing to phase out the routine use of antibiotics entirely – not just limited to chicken in its USA market – and doing so would drive up standards across the industry”. It also said it would set specific goals for pork and beef production in 2017.
The charity ShareAction has called on consumers to email McDonald’s chief executive Steve Easterbrook.
Advertisement
Meanwhile, Yum Brands’ KFC fried-chicken chain is under fire for a policy that critics say effectively allows for routine use of antibiotics by its chicken suppliers.
