New antibiotic policy for McDonald’s chicken in Canada

The Canada branch of fast food chain, McDonald’s have announced a new initiative to only source chicken raised without antibiotics that are important to human medicine by the end of 2018.

All of the chicken served at McDonald’s more than 1,400 Canadian restaurants comes from Canadian chicken farmers and McDonald’s Canada will work closely with industry to implement the new antibiotics policy in its chicken supply chain within the next 3 years.

“Our guests want food that they feel great about eating – all the way from the farm to the restaurant – and this move takes another step toward better delivering on those expectations,” said John Betts, president and CEO, McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada Limited.

Reduced antibiotics in poultry supply

McDonald’s USA has been working closely with farmers for years to reduce the use of antibiotics in its poultry supply. This new Canadian sourcing policy supports McDonald’s ‘Global Vision for Antimicrobial Stewardship in Food Animals’ introduced in March this year, which builds on the 2003 global antibiotics policy and includes supplier guidance on the thoughtful use of antibiotics in all food animals.

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Also read: McDonalds to transition to cage-free eggs in US

To meet consumers’ changing expectations and preferences, US fast food outlet McDonald’s will fully transition to cage-free eggs for its nearly 16,000 restaurants in the US and Canada over the next 10 years.

“McDonald’s believes antibiotics have important benefits, but that a few sensible changes to our policy can both maintain their most important benefits while helping to reduce their use overall,” said Rob Dick, senior director of McDonald’s Canada supply chain.

Responsibly use ionophores

While McDonald’s Canada will only source chicken raised without antibiotics important to human medicine, the farmers who supply chicken for its menu will continue to responsibly use ionophores, a type of antibiotic not used for humans that helps keep chickens healthy.

The announcement is the latest step in McDonald’s Canada’s journey to evolve its menu to better meet the changing preferences and expectations of its guests. Last month McDonald’s Canada announced it would transition to 100% Canadian cage-free eggs over the next 10 years. It is also a founding member of the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB) in support of the McDonald’s global commitment and effort to source verified sustainable beef.