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 The proposal received the support of 43 percent of votes cast at the
company's annual meeting on Feb. 15, according to regulatory filing
on Tuesday. A similar proposal last year garnered 30 percent
support.
Sanderson is the only large U.S. chicken producer that has not
committed to curbing the use of the drugs. It had urged investors to
vote no on the proposal filed by the non-profits As You Sow and
supported by charity Oxfam America.
In the United States, an estimated 70 percent of antibiotics
important to fighting human infections and ensuring the safety of
invasive procedures such as surgeries are sold for use on farms.
Scientists from the World Health Organization and other groups have
warned that the use of antibiotics to promote growth and prevent
illness in healthy farm 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.
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Sanderson, a low-cost chicken producer, in its proxy disputed WHO's
conclusions and said phasing out those antibiotics "would
fundamentally change our business and our brand without good
reason."
Nevertheless, it has previously said that it has a plan to eliminate
them if it is in the company's best interest.
Rival meat suppliers have already made the move. Tyson Foods Inc has
stopped using antibiotics to produce its retail line of chicken. All
chicken sold under the Perdue Farms brand is from flocks that have
never been given antibiotics, the company said.
(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles and Tom Polansek in
Chicago; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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