McDonald's, the largest fast food chain and second largest private employer in the world, is moving towards serving antibiotic-free chicken at their over 14,000 restaurants nationwide.
"Our customers want food that they feel great about eating - all the way from the farm to the restaurant - and these moves take a step towards better delivering on those expectations," said McDonald's U.S. President Mike Andres in a press release. The hamburger giant also said it would begin offering low-fat and fat-free chocolate milk from cows not treated with artificial growth hormone rbST.
The new policy should be implemented across the country within the next two years.
Wednesday's announcement is a win for health rights advocates who, for decades, have claimed that using human medicine on animals encourages the growth of drug-resistant illnesses. About 80 percent of all antibiotics sold in the United States are given to livestock and poultry that aren't even sick. The animal's immunity transfers over to humans who, in turn, are more susceptible to diseases, according to the National Resource Defense Council.
Groups like the World Health Organization, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention have issued similar warnings. In 2013, the CDC reported that 23,000 Americans died yearly from antibiotic-resistant infections.
As the Huffington Post pointed out, there are two key omissions from McDonald's vow to clean up their menu. One, they won't be removing every kind of antibiotics from chickens. The other, other meats won't be affected.
"Using [animal-specific medications called ionophores] in poultry or animal production is simply not necessary with proper animal husbandry," Chris Arnold, Chipotle's spokesman wrote in an email to The Huffington Post. "McDonald's decision to phase out antibiotics that are used to treat illness is an important first step, and we'd love to see others follow suit. But to be truly antibiotic-free, you need to stop using ionophores as well."
Chipotle, Wendy's, and Chick-fil-A are among rivals to have gotten a jump start on disowning human antibiotics used by meat suppliers. The latter announced last year that it was working to eliminate all antibiotics - including ionophores -from its poultry within the next few years. McDonald's didn't state what specific antibiotics they would be eliminating.
Shares of McDonald's have dolefully risen five percent over the past year; underperforming competitors Burger King and Wendy's. Their sales, tracking locations open at least 13 months, fell 1.8 percent in January with significant drop-offs in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.