McDonald’s Working With Ranchers For Responsible Antibiotics Use

America’s largest purchaser of beef, McDonald’s, released a policy late last year to reduce antibiotics use among its suppliers – with plans to set reduction targets next year.  But, what does this mean for ranchers that have a working relationship for with the golden arches?

Company officials said they’ve worked with ranchers and veterinarians to strike a balance between animal care and responsible antibiotics use that helps preserve effectiveness for both humans and animals.

“We revised our vision for antimicrobial stewardship, which really talks about how antimicrobials should be handled in the future," said Ernie Meier is Director of Quality Systems at McDonald’s.  "It defines our three Rs, which is refine, replace and reduce.”

According to a company statement, McDonald’s will measure current usage of antibiotics across its diverse, global supply chain.  Based on the findings, it plans to establish specific reduction targets by the end of next year.  U.S. farmers and ranchers have a jump-start on the effort. According to the FDA, industry-wide practices to improve antibiotics use have paid off.  Figures show a 33% decrease from 2016 to 2017 in domestic sales and distribution of all medically important antibiotics used in food animal production.

"McDonald’s has adopted the policies that we have around antimicrobial stewardship because it’s the right thing to do for the animals," Meier added.  "A sick animal has to be treated, and there’s no reason why that animal should not be cared for in a compassionate and humane way. That animal and the meat that animal is going to produce is healthy and safe for human consumption.”

McDonald’s said it remains committed to continued responsible antibiotics use through its policies for beef, dairy beef, chicken and pork.

“Customers want to know and trust what McDonald’s is doing, and so we have a lot of information that’s on our website around sustainability, which includes animal welfare, it includes antimicrobial stewardship. That’s available online for anyone to research and look for if they’re interested in it.”

Annually, U.S. consumers purchase about 600 million pounds of beef via McDonald’s.

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