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 McDonald's will phase out chicken raised with antibiotics that are
important to human health over two years to allay concern that use
of the drugs in meat production has exacerbated the rise of deadly "superbugs"
that resist treatment, Reuters reported last week. Within days,
retailer Costco Wholesale Corp <COST.O> told Reuters it aims to
eliminate the sale of chicken and meat raised with human
antibiotics.
KFC is owned by Louisville, Kentucky-based Yum Brands Inc <YUM.N>,
which has no publicly stated policy on antibiotic use in the
production of meat it buys. Chick-fil-A, another chicken restaurant
chain that competes with KFC, says about 20 percent of the chicken
it serves is raised without any antibiotics, and that its entire
supply chain will be converted by 2019.
Both McDonald's and Yum are stepping up efforts to win back younger
and wealthier diners lured away by chains such as such as Chipotle
Mexican Grill Inc <CMG.N> and Panera Bread Co <PNRA.O>, which boast
antibiotic-free meats and other high-quality ingredients. Yum's KFC
restaurants in China two years ago suffered a massive sales hit
following local media reports that a few poultry farmers supplying
KFC fed excessive levels of antibiotics to their chickens.
"The train has left the station," Bob Goldin, a food services
company consultant at Technomic in Chicago, said of McDonald's
influence on U.S. chicken production standards.
Yum, which also owns the Taco Bell and Pizza Hut chains, declined to
discuss its standards for antibiotic use in meat production.
"The chicken served in our U.S. restaurants is USDA high quality,
and free of antibiotics," the company said in an emailed response to
Reuters queries.
The antibiotic-free statement refers to a lack of residue in the
meat served at its restaurants and not the practice of delivering
antibiotics to chickens before they are slaughtered, said Steven
Roach, food safety program director at Food Animal Concerns Trust in
Chicago.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has three classifications for
poultry, A, B, and C, and doesn't have a "high quality" designation
for chicken. Poultry rated A is what's typically found at retail,
while poultry rated B or C is usually used in further-processed
products where the meat is cut up, chopped, or ground, according to
a USDA website.
NOT PART OF THE CONVERSATION
McDonald's told Reuters it worked with a wide range of stakeholders,
including environmental group Friends of the Earth, to develop its
U.S. chicken guidelines. Yum and its brands have ignored requests
for information regarding its antibiotic policy, said Kari
Hamerschlag, senior program manager for Friends of the Earth's food
and technology program.
"They have so far not answered any of our emails or phone calls,"
said Hamerschlag, who is working with other advocacy groups to
persuade food companies to change their supplier standards to
exclude animals raised with the routine use of antibiotics. By
contrast, McDonald's was "very responsive" to the groups' requests,
she said.
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Other groups working with Friends of the Earth to cut antibiotics
from chickens and other meats include the Natural Resources Defense
Council, Consumers Union and the Center for Food Safety. Friends of
the Earth said its interest in antibiotics has to do with animal
agriculture's connection to the environment and human health.
KFC supplier Tyson Foods Inc did not comment. Other U.S. chicken
producers that have supplied Yum either declined to comment or could
not be reached. It’s not known who KFC’s biggest supplier is or how
many chickens KFC buys a year.
In 2012, Chinese media reports about excessive antibiotic use by a
few KFC chicken farmers hammered sales there. The country has more
than 4,800 KFC restaurants and accounted for nearly half of Yum's
2014 operating profit. In response, Yum dropped some 1,000 small
poultry farmers from its supply chain and launched a public
relations campaign to reassure diners about the quality and safety
of its food.
Yum operates separate supply chains in China and United States.
While antibiotics have made for big headlines in China, the issue
also has surfaced at home.
A Reuters investigation last year found that KFC supplier Koch Foods
Inc from November 2011 to July 2014 had given some of its flocks
antibiotics critical to fighting human infections, even though its
website stated otherwise.
The Chicago-based chicken producer changed the language on its
website after questions from Reuters about its use of virginiamycin,
an antibiotic included in a class considered "highly important" to
fighting infections in humans. At the time, Koch said it has no
plans to discontinue the use of virginiamycin, which it says may be
used to prevent a common intestinal infection in chicken.
Koch did not respond to interview requests for this story.
KFC US said at the time that its "supply partners must adhere to our
strict standards and specifications, which in some cases are more
stringent than the FDA's regulations." It declined to comment this
week.
(Editing by Michele Gershberg and John Pickering)
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