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 More than 70 percent of medically important antibiotics in the
United States are sold for livestock use. Scientists have warned
that the routine use of antibiotics to promote growth and prevent
illness in healthy farms animals contributes to the rise of
dangerous, antibiotic-resistant "superbug" infections, which kill at
least 23,000 Americans each year and pose a significant threat to
global health.
The Congregation of Benedictine Sisters of Boerne, Texas, asked
directors at McDonald's to prohibit the use of medically important
antibiotics in its global poultry supply chain. McDonald's already
has adopted that policy for the chicken served in its U.S.
restaurants.
The group also asking the fast-food chain to set global targets and
timelines for switching to pork and beef raised without the
non-therapeutic use of medically important antibiotics.
Just over 20 percent of McDonald's shareholders voted in favor of a
similar proposal at this year's annual meeting. The sisters pulled a
prior resolution after McDonald's announced its plans to change its
policies on chicken in the United States.
The sisters aim to have shareholders vote on the new proposal at
McDonald's 2017 annual meeting.
McDonald's told Reuters it continues "to engage with key experts,
including some who serve as advisors to the World Health
Organization (WHO), to advance progress across the industry."
The company said its current policy "provides guidance to our
suppliers in parts of the world where the industry does not yet have
systems in place that would allow them to verify compliance
throughout the supply chain."
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Sister Susan Mika said the resolution is part of an ongoing process.
"I said we will be back," Mika said in a phone interview. "We want
them to set goals and to be moving in a certain direction. We expect
them to be a leader in taking on these questions of our time."
The sisters are part of the Interfaith Center on Corporate
Responsibility (ICCR), which along with ShareAction, Farm Animal
Investment Risk & Return (FAIRR) Initiative and As You Sow, also are
targeting companies such as Sanderson Farms and Yum Brands Inc
with similar campaigns aimed at preserving the efficacy of
antibiotics.
(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Bernadette
Baum and Andrew Hay)
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