McDonald's to use antibiotic-free chicken

McDonald's said yesterday that it would start using chicken that  were not raised with antibiotics used to treat humans, a move likely to put pressure on the fast-food chain's rivals, which now sold more chicken than beef.

The decision by McDonald's, which was also one of the largest buyers of chicken in the US, is likely to have a major impact on how poultry was raised and on the kinds of chicken served by restaurants.

According to the company, the shift toward largely antibiotic-free chicken was to occur over two years.

The fast food chain further announced that this year customers would be offered a choice of low-fat and chocolate milk from cows not treated with the artificial growth hormone rBST.

The announcement comes as Steve Easterbrook succeeded Don Thompson as CEO.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had been increasingly vocal about its concerns about the use of antibiotics in animal husbandry with more bacteria and pathogens developing resistance to such drugs.

According to its estimates in 2013, at least 2 million Americans fell sick each year because of antibiotic-resistant infections which left at least 23,000 dead.

McDonald's policy would begin at the hatchery, where chicks were sometimes injected with antibiotics while still in the shell.

"We're listening to our customers," Marion Gross, senior vice president of McDonald's North American supply chain, told Reuters.

She added the company was working with its domestic chicken suppliers, including Tyson Foods Inc, to make the transition.

Though the veterinary use of antibiotics was legal, with the rate of human infections from antibiotic-resistant bacteria rising, consumer advocates and public health experts had become more critical of the practice of the routine feeding of antibiotics to chickens, cattle and pigs.

According to scientists and public health experts, whenever an antibiotic was administered, it killed weaker bacteria and could enable the stronger ones to survive and multiply despite frequent use of low-dose antibiotics, intensifying their resistance.

According to Jonathan Kaplan, the Natural Resources Defense Council's food and agriculture programme director, this might be a tipping point for antibiotic use in the poultry industry, Reuters reported.