McDonald’s has unveiled an updated vision for reducing the routine use of antibiotics in its supply chain.
The vision sets the framework for the adoption of new policies and timelines for reducing, and where possible eliminating, the routine use of antibiotics in all food animals.
It also sets a global policy for only sourcing broiler chickens that have been raised without antibiotics defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as Highest Priority Critically Important (HPCIA) for human medicine.
The policy will be in effect for Brazil, Canada, Japan, South Korea, the U.S., and Europe by 2018, Australia and Russia by 2019 and the rest of its markets by 2027.
The global policy falls short of eliminating all medically important antibiotics.
"Our goal is to have this policy implemented before this date," McDonald's said in its posted antibiotic policy update.
Kari Hamerschlag, deputy director of food and technology at Friends of the Earth said: "McDonald’s has taken an important step forward in the fight to preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics in human medicine and improve conditions of farm animals.
"By establishing a stronger framework for reducing the use of antibiotics important in human medicine in all food animals, the company has laid the basis for significant reductions in the use of antibiotics and in improvements in animal husbandry on the farms that produce its food."
