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 KFC, the second-biggest U.S. chicken chain by sales after privately
held Chick-fil-A, is giving its U.S. poultry suppliers until the end
of 2018 to stop using antibiotics important to human medicine.
Some 70 percent of antibiotics vital for fighting infections in
humans are sold for use in meat and dairy production and medical
researchers have concerns that overuse of those drugs may diminish
their effectiveness in fighting disease in humans.
McDonald's Corp's <MCD.N> roughly 14,000 U.S. restaurants last year
stopped serving chicken raised with antibiotics considered important
to human medicine. Its Chicken McNuggets are a top seller and the
change put pressure on the rest of the industry to follow.
Chick-fil-A is going a step further, vowing in 2014 to switch to
poultry raised without any antibiotics at all by the end of 2019.
Given its stature, KFC had been the focus of several antibiotic
reduction campaigns by consumer, health and environment groups in
addition to a coalition of British and U.S. shareholders with more
than $2 trillion in assets under management.
"We recognize that it's a growing public health concern," KFC U.S.
President Kevin Hochman told Reuters on Thursday.
"This is something that's important to many of our customers and
it's something we need to do to show relevance and modernity within
our brand," Hochman said.
The policy applies only to KFC in the United States and its 4,200
restaurants supplied by some 2,000 domestic chicken farms, said
Hochman. KFC's antibiotic policy is set on a country-by-country
basis, he added. Yum spun off its KFC-dominated China division in
November.
'GREAT NEWS FOR FRIED CHICKEN LOVERS'
Vijay Sukumar, chief food innovation officer for KFC U.S., said the
new policy applies throughout the bird's full life cycle, which
includes the hatchery where chicks are sometimes injected with
antibiotics while still in the shell.
Using data from a 2017 WATT PoultryUSA survey, the Natural Resources
Defense Council (NRDC) estimates that more than 42 percent of the
U.S. chicken industry is either under an antibiotics stewardship
pledge or has already converted to responsible practices.
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KFC's new policy will likely move the number even higher, said Lena
Brook, a food policy advocate at the NRDC, who noted that the
estimate includes "raised without antibiotics" pledges as well as
"raised without medically important" antibiotics pledges from
producers like Tyson Foods Inc, Perdue Farms and others.
"It's great news for fried chicken lovers, and most importantly it's
great news for public health," Brook said. "Their commitment is one
that we've been waiting for."
Human infections from antibiotic-resistant bacteria pose a grave
threat to global health and are estimated to kill at least 23,000
Americans each year, although a recent Reuters investigation found
that many infection-related deaths are going uncounted.
Hochman said the policy change has been in the works for a year. It
will add some incremental cost that KFC plans to manage rather than
pass on in the form of menu price increases, he said.
At least some of KFC suppliers are already well on their way to
compliance.
Tyson, the largest U.S. poultry producer and a KFC supplier, has
announced plans to eliminate the use of human antibiotics in its
chicken flocks by September 2017.
Yum's Taco Bell chain already committed to serve chicken raised
without antibiotics important to human medicine in all U.S.
restaurants by the end of last month. Its Pizza Hut division has the
same rules for pizza toppings.
(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Bill Rigby)
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