Restaurant Brands International (RBI), parent company of Burger King and Tim Hortons restaurants, is planning to only source chicken raised without antibiotics important to human health at all of its locations in the United States and Canada.
In the its most recent Responsible Sourcing policy, the company announced that such antibiotics will no longer be used in its chicken supply in the United States before the end of 2017, and in Canada in 2018.
“We recognize that antibiotics play an important and delicate role in animal well-being and human health,” the company said in a statement. “Antibiotics are sometimes required to control and treat disease to maintain animal health and welfare. We require our suppliers to purchase products only from farmers that administer antibiotics in a judicious and responsible manner when treatment is necessary, in keeping with veterinary and regulatory requirements.
“In 2016, we have been collaborating with our working group of suppliers and academics as well as monitoring the guidance of external experts such as the World Health Organization and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration with respect to the matter of antibiotic resistance.”
RBI’s announcement of a new policy comes just after Jack in the Box Inc. announced it would cut routine use of antibiotics also used in human health from the chicken sourced for Jack in the Box and Qdoba restaurants. The company established 2020 as the target year to complete the transition.
A recent report, “Chain Reaction – How Top Restaurants Rate on Reducing Use of Antibiotics in their Meat Supply,” released in September, rated the top 25 restaurant chains in America for their policies concerning animal antibiotic use. Burger King and Jack in the Box both received failing grades. The report was prepared by a coalition of groups, including Friends of the Earth, Natural Resources Defense Council, Consumers Union, Food Animal Concerns Trust, Keep Antibiotics Working and Center for Food Safety.
Only Panera Bread, Chipotle, Chick-fil-A, Subway, McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and Papa John’s were given passing grades.
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