McDonald's Announces Plan to Stop Using As Many Antibiotics in Meat

McDonald's is making some surprisingly healthy changes, including a drastic reduction in antibiotics used in its beef supply.

McDonald's is not necessarily known as a nutritious option. However, a new report has Eat and Drink columnist A.C. Shilton referring to the chain as "a leader in public health." This is mostly thanks to McDonald's new pledge to remove medically important antibiotics from 85 percent of its beef supply.

McDonald's announced the change back in December, though it will not happen overnight. The company has a plan spanning several years to hit target numbers for reducing antibiotics in its cattle, and thereby reducing the antibiotics in its beef.

The restaurant chain cites research by the World Health Organization for the sudden shift — specifically research from the Antibiotic Resistance Action Center. The center's director, Dr. Lance B. Price, explained how antibiotics in food affect long-term health.

"Antibiotic resistance is one of the greatest threats to mankind today," he said. "We commend McDonald's efforts to develop a global policy guiding how antibiotics are used within its beef supply chain. The company has set an ambitious timing for implementing this policy and its heartening that it is setting reduction targets that will be transparent and reported publicly to its customers."

McDonald's is starting by partnering with beef producers along its global supply chain to establish ways of measuring and understanding antibiotics on every level. The company hopes to have numbers to target for reduction by the end of 2020. By 2022, it will begin reporting its progress towards those targets publicly.

The ambitious undertaking is a surprise coming from the restaurant chain, which is not known for being health conscious. However, it is indisputably a leader in this area, as one of the biggest companies to begin taking antibiotic resistance research seriously. Price said that he hopes other industry giants will follow suit.

"It is our hope that the entire beef industry will follow McDonald's leadership and adopt similar policies that reduce and where possible eliminate antibiotic use, while still allowing veterinarians to treat sick animals," he said.

"McDonald's believes antibiotic resistance is a critical public health issue, and we take seriously our unique position to use our scale for good to continue to address this challenge," added McDonalds' Global Vice President of Sustainability, Keith Kenny. "We are excited to partner with our beef supply chain around the world to accelerate the responsible use of antibiotics, whilst continuing to look after the health and welfare of those animals in our supply chain."