News

Wendy's ready to blast into breakfast, as NRDC blasts brand over antibiotic use

Logo: Wendy's

February 5, 2020

Monday, March 2, is B-day, you might say, for Wendy's, which said it will officially launch its latest go at breakfast on that day, after the brand initially announced plans last year to battle for business again in the earliest daypart. 

In a news release this week, the brand promised breakfast items with eggs that are cracked open in the kitchen for every sandwich ordered, as well as breakfast renditions of favorites from other dayparts, like a breakfast Baconator, honey butter chicken biscuit and even a Frosty-ccino, which plays off the brand's signature slurpy dessert.

"People deserve a delicious, affordable and higher quality breakfast than what they're currently getting, so that's exactly what we're going to serve when Wendy's launches breakfast nationally on March 2," said Kurt Kane, president, U.S. and chief commercial officer of The Wendy's Company, in the release. 

The brand first announced the date on its Twitter account, which it said will also be the stage for "limited content during peak morning hours," with "surprise" guests and sneak peeks starting today. 

Even as that news was released, however, the environmental nonprofit, the Natural Resources Defense Council, or NRDC, was blasting the brand for taking what the group called "baby steps"  to cut the use of even a single medically important drug, tylosin, in a portion of its beef supply, a news release said. The NRDC made the claim after Wendy's last week released its 2019 Corporate Social Responsibility report.

"Major beef buyers like Wendy's have an opportunity — and a responsibility — to help curb the antibiotic resistance crisis by requiring their suppliers to stop using these precious medicines on a routine basis when animals are not sick," NRDC Director of Food Campaigns Lena Brook said in a blog this week. "So far, Wendy's is choosing instead to mislead the public in the hopes that people won't notice."