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Report card: 20 of country's largest chains fail antibiotics policies

A report and scorecard released today grading America’s 25 largest fast food and fast casual chains on meat and poultry antibiotics policies failed all but five for allowing routine antibiotic use by meat suppliers.

September 15, 2015

A report and scorecard released today that graded America’s 25 largest fast food and fast casual chains on their meat and poultry antibiotics policies, failed all but five for "allowing routine antibiotic use by their meat suppliers."

The five chains earning passing grades include:

• Panera Bread
• Chipotle Mexican Grill
• Chick-fil-A
• McDonald’s
• Dunkin’ Donuts

The failing chains, according to a press release issued, received an F on the scorecard for either having no disclosed policy on antibiotic use in meat and poultry supply chains or for having policies failing to phase out continued, routine use of antibiotics in the production of the meats they purchase and serve. They include:

• Applebee’s
• Arby’s
• Burger King
• Chili’s
• Dairy Queen
• Denny’s
• Domino’s
• IHOP
• Jack in the Box
• KFC
• Little Caesars
• Olive Garden
• Outback Steakhouse Grill and Bar
• Papa John’s Pizza
• Pizza Hut
• Sonic
• Starbucks
• Subway
• Taco Bell
• Wendy’s.

Research for the report, "Chain Reaction: How Top Restaurants Rate on Reducing Use of Antibiotics in Their Meat Supply," was compiled by several groups, including Friends of the Earth, Natural Resources Defense Council, Consumers Union, Food Animal Concerns Trust, Keep Antibiotics Working and Center for Food Safety.

The groups also sent a letter today from 109 organizations to the CEOs of 25 of the country's largest restaurant chains urging them to eliminate the routine use of antibiotics in their meat supply.

"From bacon cheeseburgers to chicken nuggets, most meat served by America's chain restaurants comes from animals raised in industrial-scale facilities, where they are routinely fed antibiotics to prevent disease that is easily spread in crowded, unsanitary, stressful conditions," said Kari Hamerschlag, senior program manager at Friends of the Earth. "It’s time for the U.S. restaurant industry to take leadership and address the growing crisis of antibiotic resistance by working with their meat and poultry suppliers to eliminate the routine use of antibiotics and improve overall conditions in U.S. meat production."

Calling out Subway

In addition, there are several high-profile campaigns urging Subway, the world’s largest restaurant chain, to adopt a clear policy restricting the routine use of antibiotics in its supply chain, according to the press release.

"The majority of meat served at Panera and Chipotle is produced without routine use of antibiotics, and Chick-fil-A and McDonald’s have committed to limiting antibiotics use in their chicken," said Jean Halloran, director of food policy initiatives at Consumers Union, the policy arm of Consumer Reports. "We are urging other major chains, such as Subway and Burger King, to take immediate action in their meat supply chain to address the urgent problem of antibiotic resistance."

Overusing antibiotics in meat production can lead to the development of drug-resistant superbugs, and the nation’s largest chains have the chance to be part of the problem or part of the solution, said David Wallinga, senior health officer with the Natural Resources Defense Council.

"Restaurants billing themselves as a ‘healthier’ option, like Subway, have a particular responsibility to live up to that image by reducing antibiotics. Consumer demand for meat raised without routine antibiotics is transforming the marketplace; the companies continuing with business-as-usual will be left behind," he said.

Steven Roach, food safety program director at Food Animal Concerns Trust and analyst for Keep Antibiotics Working, agreed, saying the meat industry’s misuse and overuse of antibiotics reflects larger problems of poor animal welfare and farm management practices in U.S. meat production.

"Companies need to insist producers reduce density and improve animal diets, sanitation and other management practices within their producers’ facilities, to reduce the likelihood of disease and the need for routine drug use. By doing so, these companies can play an important role in ensuring better animal welfare and addressing one of our nation’s more serious public health threats," he said.

Antibiotic-resistant infections claim 23,000 lives per year

The report builds on rising concern that overuse of antibiotics in meat production contributes to the rise in antibiotic-resistant infections that claim at least 23,000 lives each year, said Rebecca Spector, West Coast director at Center for Food Safety.

"The restaurant industry needs to take action, but the market alone cannot solve the problem of antibiotic misuse in animal agriculture," she said. "The FDA and Congress must move quickly to adopt mandatory policies that prohibit use of medically important antibiotics for both growth promotion and disease prevention."

In addition to these findings on antibiotic policies, the report found only two of the surveyed companies, Panera and Chipotle, reported policies that restrict the use of other growth-promoting drugs, including hormones and beta agonists.

In response to a number of public campaigns, Subway, in late August, updated its website to indicate it "supports the elimination of sub-therapeutic use of antibiotics," and media outlets reported Subway plans to "transition to chicken raised without antibiotics important to human medicine in 2016." and "eliminate the use of antibiotics in products across the menu."

Subway, according to the press release, has yet to back up those statements by making a firm commitment to take this action, or present a clear plan or timeline.

"For this reason, Subway only earned partial credit in the scorecard for good policy — and ultimately received an F. Efforts to clarify Subway's policy have been unsuccessful despite repeated attempts by the report’s authors to reach out via email and telephone," it stated.