McDonald's and another 21 burger chains are currently in the hot seat for failing in an investigation of their antibiotic policies. This means that they do not have clear policies that restrict the use of antibiotics in their beef supply chains.
The fourth annual Chain Reaction scorecard has been released today, a collaborative report conducted by six major consumer and environmental organizations. Among the 25 investigated, only Shake Shack and BurgerFi received a high score on this investigation while Wendy's received a D-. McDonald's and the rest received an "F."
These scores meant that only Shake Shack and BurgerFi stood out from the herd when it comes to using and serving beef raised without the use of antibiotics. With such a high number of chains failing, including one of the largest burger chains today, it can be surmised that there lacks progress in the beef industry. After all the warnings and studies, they remain the largest buyer of medically-important antibiotics among all food animal sectors.
In particular, public health experts are continuously advocating against the widespread use of antibiotics for meat production because this is the main reason why some medications have already become less effective. Antibiotics contribute to the making and spreading of drug-resistant bacteria.
According to Matt Wellington, US PIRG Education Fund's Antibiotics Program Director, it is high time that famous restaurants, one of them certainly McDonald's to play a more significant role in the addressing of the antibiotic overuse issue in the beef industry. This is for the sake of the health of Americans. If the burger chains refuse to heed all the warnings, it just means that they are prioritizing the production of cheaper burgers compared to the effectiveness of life-saving medicines. Wellington claimed that he understands how important burgers are for Americans but this does not mean restaurants should not be demanding antibiotic restrictions from their beef suppliers.
BurgerFi and Shake Shack are using beef without antibiotics, hence the As. Wendy's only received a D because of 15% of its beef supply from producers that are using only one antibiotic, the tylosin. The D grade means that it can certainly do so much better. All the companies that got an "F" are naturally those who serve beef with different types of medically-important antibiotics.
Ironically, McDonald's already proclaimed a vision for antibiotic stewardship for its meat supply chain. No timeline, however, has been given except for chicken supplies. In-N-Out Burger also made a similar commitment but did not provide a timeline as well.
According to Lena Brook of Natural Resources Defense Council, one of the organizations behind this collaborative report, bacterial resistance is one of the pressing public health threats affecting the world. Treatable diseases can become ultimately fatal.
