Marketplace Developments

Large institutional purchasers (e.g. restaurants, grocery stores, schools, hospitals, etc.) of meat and poultry can greatly impact antibiotic use policies in the meat industry. Largely driven by consumer demand, many major food companies have committed to responsible antibiotic use policies -- changes that will help address antibiotic resistance.

Examples of progress in the U.S. marketplace:

Food Companies (U.S. Policy)

COMPANY	POLICY	OUR TAKE
Applegate	Does not allow antibiotic use.	Applegate has been a leader on the need to reduce antibiotic use in food animal production since its founding in 1984.
Butterball	Created a line of turkey products under the USDA-verified "Certified Responsible Antibiotic Use" label.	A great first step. Since these products are only sold to schools and other institutional purchasers, would like to see product offerings expanded to the retail sector.
Cargill	Eliminated 20% of antibiotics in 1.2 million beef cattle. Created a line of turkey products under the USDA-verified "Certified Responsible Antibiotic Use" standard.	A good first step but more transparency is needed on total amount of antibiotics used in its cattle and for what purposes. Great first step on turkey, but these products are only sold to schools and other institutional purchasers. Would like to see product offerings expanded to the retail sector.
Foster Farms	Committed to end the use of antibiotics that are important to human medicine in all of it's chicken. Added two new brands: organic and raised without antibiotics.	Love it, yet no timeline given for ending use of medically important antibiotics in all of the chicken the company produces.
Jennie-O	Created a line of turkey products under the USDA-verified "Certified Responsible Antibiotic Use" label.	A great first step. Since these products are only sold to schools and other institutional purchasers, would like to see product offerings expanded to the retail sector.
Perdue	Products branded "Perdue" are raised entirely without antibiotics.	Fantastic leadership.
Pilgrim's Pride	Committed to phasing out 25% of the antibiotics in its chicken supply by 2020.	A good first step, but other chicken companies are doing more and in a faster timeframe.
Sanderson Farms	Committed to stop using antibiotics to prevent disease in it's chicken flocks by March 2019.	A good first step, but the company could be doing more. Many of its competitors disallow use of medically important antibiotics for any purpose.
Smithfield	Launched product line of raised without antibiotics pork.	A good first step, but need more transparency on how and why antibiotics are used in their conventional lines and a plan for how antibiotic use will be reduced.
Tyson	Chicken products branded "Tyson" will be raised entirely without antibiotics by the end of 2017. Also launched a line of pork raised without antibiotics.	Fantastic leadership on chicken. Need the same commitment on the other meat proteins sold by Tyson.

Fast Food & Restaurant Chains (U.S. Policy)

RESTAURANT CHAIN	POLICY	OUR TAKE
Burger King	Has committed to transition all chicken to raised without antibiotics used in human medicine by the end of 2018.	Good first step, but needs to apply the policy to the other meat protein it serves.
Chipotle	Sources only meat raised without antibiotics.	This policy has been a foundation of the company's philosophy since it's founding in 1993. Chipotle is a leader in calling for reforms in industrial agriculture.
Chick-fil-A	Committed in 2014 to serving chicken raised without antibiotics in all of its restaurants by 2019. The company has converted more than 70% of its supply and is on track to achieve its goal of 100% by 2019.	Fantastic leadership. The company regularly publicly reports on its progress to consumers.
Dunkin' Donuts	Committed to transition all chicken to raised without antibiotics by the end of 2019.	Good first step, but needs to apply the policy to the other meat protein it serves.
Jack in the Box	Committed to transition all chicken to raised without the routine use of antibiotics by the end of 2020.	Good first step, but needs to apply the policy to the other meat protein it serves.
KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken)	Committed to transition all chicken to raised without antibiotics by the end of 2018.	Good leadership by the company if this commitment is achieved.
McDonald's	100% of chicken served at its 14,000 U.S. restaurants is raised without antibiotics important in human medicine. Announced new global policy in poultry that will disallow a subset of antibiotics known as "highest priority critically important antibiotics" to begin to take effect in 2018 and be completed globally no later than 2027. In December 2018, announced a new global policy to reduce antibiotic use in the beef it sources. The policy begins with a pilot phase in 2019 and goes fully into effect in 2021. The policy disallows use of medically important antibiotics for prevention purposes (except in rare circumstances). The company also will set reduction targets following the pilot phase and report results to its customers.	Fantastic policy on chicken in U.S. Good first step for rest of its global markets - though it is possible that many antibiotics important to human medicine may remain in use. We also would like to see the company make commitments on it's beef and pork offerings. This is the first major company to limit antibiotic use in beef. We'll continue to work with McDonald's during the pilot phase to ensure the policy is reducing use. We recommend that the company include an independent, third-party auditor to validate antibiotic use claims submitted to the company by its suppliers.
Panera Bread	Committed to serving only meat and poultry products raised without antibiotics.	Great leadership as Panera Bread has applied the policy to all of the meat products it serves.
Papa John's	Committed to serving chicken raised without antibiotics for its pizza toppings and poppers.	A good first step, but need to apply the policy to its chicken wings and other meat protein it serves.
Pizza Hut	Committed to serving chicken raised without antibiotics for its pizza toppings.	A good first step, but needs to apply the policy to the other meat protein it serves.
Starbucks	Committed to serving poultry raised without the routine use of medically important antibiotics by 2020.	Announced in November 2018 it had met its goal. The poultry it serves has been raised without the use of antibiotics. Starbucks should apply the policy to the other meat protein it serves.
Subway	Committed to sourcing all meat and poultry products to be raised without antibiotics by 2025. The company started with chicken, with turkey to follow.	Good leadership as the restaurant chain applied the policy to all of the meat proteins it serves.
Taco Bell	Implemented policy to source chicken raised without medically important antibiotics.	Great work on chicken, but need to apply the policy to their beef and pork products.
Wendy's	Implemented policy to source chicken raised without medically important antibiotics.	Great work on chicken, but need to apply the policy to their beef and pork products.

Grocery Stores

GROCERY STORE	POLICY	OUR TAKE
Ahold USA	Offers some raised without antibiotics and organic products across all major meat sectors.	Should require all companies for which it sells meat to report annually on the amount of antibiotics used and for what conditions. This information should be anonymized and then made public to its customers.
ALDI	Offers one line of organic beef and one line of chicken raised without antibiotics.	Should improve number of products available to include pork and turkey. Should require all companies for which it sells meat to report annually on the amount of antibiotics used and for what conditions. This information should be anonymized and then made public to its customers.
Costco	Claimed in December 2018 that the company had updated its animal welfare standards to include stricter use of antibiotics from its suppliers.	The policy simply disallows use of antibiotics for growth promotion purposes, which is no longer allowed in the U.S. This policy should not be celebrated as it simply conforms with existing U.S. regulations.
Giant	In August 2017, Giant announced it would add a private label line of pork products raised without antibiotics.	This is good news as pork products raised without antibiotics are difficult to find in most grocery stores.
Kroger	Offers some raised without antibiotics and organic products across all major meat sectors.	Should require all companies for which it sells meat to report annually on the amount of antibiotics used and for what conditions. This information should be anonymized and then made public to its customers.
Publix	Offers some raised without antibiotics and organic products across all major meat sectors.	Should require all companies for which it sells meat to report annually on the amount of antibiotics used and for what conditions. This information should be anonymized and then made public to its customers.
Safeway	Offers some raised without antibiotics and organic products across all major meat sectors.	Should require all companies for which it sells meat to report annually on the amount of antibiotics used and for what conditions. This information should be anonymized and then made public to its customers.
Trader Joe's	Offers some raised without antibiotics and organic products across all major meat sectors.	Should require all companies for which it sells meat to report annually on the amount of antibiotics used and for what conditions. This information should be anonymized and then made public to its customers.
Walmart	Offers some raised without antibiotics and organic products across all major meat sectors.	Should require all companies for which it sells meat to report annually on the amount of antibiotics used and for what conditions. This information should be anonymized and then made public to its customers.
Wegman's	Offers some raised without antibiotics and organic products across all major meat sectors.	Should require all companies for which it sells meat to report annually on the amount of antibiotics used and for what conditions. This information should be anonymized and then made public to its customers.
Whole Foods Market	Disallows antibiotic use in any of it's meat and poultry products.	Fantastic leadership.

Reports that highlight developments in the marketplace:

Chain Reaction IV: Burger Edition. How Top Restaurants Rate on Reducing Antibiotic Use in Their Meat Supply Chains by Consumer Reports, Natural Resources Defense Council, Friends of the Earth, Center for Food Safety, Food Animal Concerns Trust, and U.S. PIRG Education Fund (October 2018)
Chain Reaction III: How Top Restaurants Rate on Reducing Use of Antibiotics in Their Meat Supply by Natural Resources Defense Council, Friends of the Earth, Consumers Union, Food Animal Concerns Trust, U.S. PIRG and Center for Food Safety (September 2017)
The Restaurant Sector and Antibiotic Risk: Progress Report, 2017 by FAIRR and ShareAction
Crying Fowl: Major Grocers Stumble in Promoting Antibiotic Stewardship in Retail Chicken by Natural Resources Defense Council (May 2017)
Chain Reaction II: How Top Restaurants Rate on Reducing Use of Antibiotics in Their Meat Supply by Natural Resources Defense Council, Friends of the Earth, Consumers Union, Food Animal Concerns Trust, and Center for Food Safety (September 2016)
Chain Reaction: How Top Restaurants Rate on Reducing Use of Antibiotics in Their Meat Supply by Natural Resources Defense Council, Friends of the Earth, Consumers Union, Food Animal Concerns Trust, and Center for Food Safety (September 2015)