McDonald’s shareholder pushing GAP, RSPCA broilers

A trustee for the New York State Common Retirement Fund, which is a significant McDonald’s shareholder, says the fast food chain’s initiative to implement higher broiler standards is not good enough.

Roy Graber Headshot
Photo courtesy of McDonald's
Photo courtesy of McDonald's

A trustee for the New York State Common Retirement Fund, which is a significant McDonald’s shareholder, says the fast food chain’s initiative to implement higher broiler standards is not good enough.

Specifically, the trustee believes that McDonald’s needs to adopt a policy that includes the sourcing of chicken breeds and production standards that are approved by either the Global Animal Partnership (GAP) or the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA).

McDonald’s existing policy

In October 2017, McDonald’s unveiled a new broiler welfare policy to be implemented by 2024 in the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, and the U.K.

The criteria for the broiler welfare policy are:

  1. Sourcing chickens for the McDonald’s system that are raised with improved welfare outcomes. The company plans to set targets, measure performance and report on key farm-level welfare outcomes across its largest markets. (RSPCA and GAP are not mentioned.)
  2. Partnering with technology companies, producers and suppliers to develop on-farm monitoring systems to automate the gathering of key animal health and welfare indicators, including behavioral measures. Once established, these technologies will highlight potential areas for improvement in real time and will be among the first of their kind available at a commercial scale.
  3. Requiring chickens to be raised in housing environments that promote natural behaviors such as pecking, perching and dust-bathing. These behaviors are encouraged through enrichments, such as the provision of perches and pecking objects, access to floor litter 100 percent of the time, and providing a minimum of 20 lux light intensity during photoperiods, with a minimum of 6 hours of darkness (4 hours to be continuous) during a 24 hour time period, reflecting scientific evidence from poultry experts.
  4. Conducting commercial trials across select markets in partnership with our largest global chicken suppliers to study the effect that various production parameters have on key welfare outcomes within large-scale, commercial conditions.  These trials will measure the effects of inputs such as lighting, stocking density (space allowance) and geneticsThis will enable McDonald’s to identify best practices that support improved farm welfare outcomes in specific climates across the globe.
  5. In the U.S. and Canada, transitioning to sourcing chickens that have been stunned by the use of controlled atmosphere stunning (CAS), a method that is approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). CAS is currently practiced by many approved suppliers for McDonald’s restaurants in Europe and Australia.
  6. Establishing third party audits to ensure supplier’s farms are in compliance with McDonald’s new and more comprehensive chicken welfare standards.
  7. Completing an assessment by the end of 2018 to measure the feasibility of extending these commitments to the remaining global markets where McDonald’s operates.
  8. Establishing a global, multi-stakeholder Advisory Council focused on chicken sustainability, with participation from academics and scientists, suppliers and industry experts, animal welfare and environmental advocates to support our continued journey on chicken sustainability, inclusive of health and welfare.

Letter from shareholder to McDonald’s leaders

In a letter on typed on official State of New York letterhead, New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli wrote to McDonald’s Chairman Enrique Hermandez Jr. and McDonald’s President and CEO Stephen J. Easterbrook. DiNapoli identified himself as a trustee of the retirement fund, which holds and invests asset of the state retirement system. The fund, at the time of the writing, held more than 2 million McDonald’s shares, valued at more than $340 million.

While DiNapoli wrote that he thought it was “commendable” that McDonald’s updated is broiler welfare policy in 2017, he asserted that “the policy does not align with widely accepted best practices supported by science and research.” Specifically, he said the policy should include GAP or RSPCA standards.

Further, he said the policy “lagged behind” those of the chain’s competitors such as Burger King, Subway, Jack in the Box and Sonic, all of which have policies that embrace GAP or RSPCA.

According to DiNapoli, a policy that includes a supply chain that adheres to GAP and RSPCA standards makes “business sense.”

“High animal welfare standards can generate a number of business benefits, including sustaining or enhancing profitability and sales, as customers have become increasingly concerned about animal welfare and food safety. … Nearly 80 percent of consumers are concerned about how chickens are bred and housed. Without adopting or aligning its chicken welfare policies to widely accepted best practices, McDonald’s risks lagging behind its competitors and misaligning its practices with consumer demand.”

Pressure from animal rights groups

DiNapoli is not the first person to try to pressure McDonald’s into a policy that includes GAP or RSPCA.

A coalition of six animal rights groups – Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), Compassion Over Killing, Mercy for Animals, Animal Equality, World Animal Protection and the Humane League implemented a campaign, which includes an online video on the website, TruthAboutMcDonaldsChicken.com, which criticizes the company’s broiler welfare policy.

Leah Garces, the U.S. executive director of CIWF and chairperson of GAP, in an earlier press release stated: “It is shortsighted for McDonald’s to not meet customer expectations for improving the lives of chickens, when their competitors are stepping up. American’s care deeply about how farmed animals are treated and that trend is only increasing. Ignoring the writing on the wall — that Americans believe chickens deserve better — is a sure way for your business to get left behind.”

In June, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) also implemented a campaign that criticizes the McDonald’s welfare policy.

A processor of GAP-certified broilers, Crystal Lake Farms, recently decided to close its plant in Jay, Oklahoma, citing buisness reasons.

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