Responsible Antibiotic Use
At McDonald’s, we are working towards the responsible use of antibiotics in our supply chain, including reducing their use and not permitting routine use of medically important antibiotics in food animal production.
Our longstanding commitment to the reduction of antibiotic use in food animals – including reducing the use of medically important antibiotics as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) – spans over 18 years, since we first outlined our position on antibiotic use in our supply chain in 2003.
Through our commitment to responsible antibiotic use, we are doing our part to help preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics for future generations. Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is a critical global public health issue that we believe we and our suppliers have a responsibility to help address.
Our antibiotic use policies do not permit the routine use of medically important antibiotics for the purpose of growth promotion or the habitual use of antibiotics for disease prevention1.
Our focus is on refining antibiotic selection and administration, reducing non-therapeutic antibiotic use and, when possible, replacing antibiotics with long-term solutions to proactively prevent disease and protect animal health and welfare. We remain committed to the treatment of sick animals aligned with herd veterinarian direction to ensure the safety of our supply chain.
Also on this page, you can see Our Performance for more detail on our achievements and Footnotes for an explanation of the scope and definition of our commitments.
Our Strategy
Responsible Use of Antibiotics to Treat Sick Animals
As one of the world’s largest food companies, McDonald’s will collaboratively do our part to advance practices related to the responsible use of antibiotics, following guidelines set out by the WHO, the World Organization for Animal Health (formerly the OIE) and other recognized public and animal health bodies.
According to the WHO, “over-use and misuse of antibiotics in animals and humans is contributing to the rising threat of antibiotic resistance.”2 Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is a critical global public health issue that we believe we have a responsibility to help address. We take this seriously, striving to provide antibiotic effectiveness for future generations by working across our industry and supply chain with producers, veterinarians, academics and other experts in the field. We intend to use our voice to advocate for increased transparency, data collection and for policies to enable better assessment of use and reduction in use across the industry.
McDonald’s can play a key role in creating awareness throughout our supply chain on responsible antibiotic use, following guidelines set out by the WHO, the World Organisation for Animal Health (formerly the OIE) and other recognized public and animal health bodies.
We are committed to a responsible-use approach – refining antibiotic selection and administration, reducing non-therapeutic antibiotic use and, when possible, replacing antibiotics with long-term solutions to proactively prevent diseases and protect animal health and welfare, as outlined in our revised 2017 Vision for Antibiotic Stewardship (VAS). We believe that reducing any overdependence on antibiotics within our supply chain complements our decades-long commitment to managing and improving the health and welfare of animals.
We engage with academia, suppliers, farmers and ranchers, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), veterinary networks and others who have a deep understanding of these issues and of ways that progress can be made. McDonald’s was a founding member of the International Consortium for Antimicrobial Stewardship in Agriculture (ICASA). Through this cross-industry collaboration, we work to identify and advance commercial solutions to address AMR.
Our protein-specific policies (chicken, beef and pork) are based on the “One Health” approach, which emphasizes the need for collaborative, multi-discipline efforts at the local, national and global levels to attain optimal health for people, animals and the environment.
For more information on our approach to individual proteins, see the Advocating for Responsible Antibiotic Use in Beef, Implementing a Global Chicken Antibiotics Policy and Our Pork Antibiotics Use Policy sections below.
As one of the world’s largest food companies, it’s very pleasing to see McDonald’s collaboratively doing its part to advance practices related to the responsible use of antibiotics, as well as leveraging learnings from The Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance in establishing market-appropriate responsible use targets. We applaud McDonald’s approach, which demonstrates a solid commitment to protecting and improving the health and welfare of animals and is supportive of industry-wide data collection to continue refining antibiotic use across beef industries.”
Cat McLaughlin, Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance, Chair.
Our Performance
For the latest progress and information on our Animal Health & Welfare Goals, please visit our Animal Health & Welfare page.
Responsible Antibiotic Use in Beef Supply Chain Goal
In collaboration with our suppliers, producers and farmer partners, we will establish market-appropriate targets for use of medically important antibiotics – as defined by the WHO – in our beef supply chain.
Progress
As of December 2022, we have established market-specific targets for the responsible use of antibiotics in our global beef supply chain for our 10 in-scope markets, representing over 80% of our global beef supply chain as of the end of 20213. These market-specific responsible use targets were informed by insights gained from our beef antibiotic monitoring pilot tests and in collaboration with subject-matter experts.
Our targets focus on the responsible use of medically important antibiotics and are aligned with WHO Guidelines on AMR. Our policy does not permit the routine use of medically important antibiotics for the purpose of growth promotion or the habitual use of antibiotics for disease prevention4. Reduction, where possible without adverse effects on animal health and welfare, remains an intended outcome of our commitment. McDonald’s global position on responsible antibiotic use recognizes that effective treatment of sick animals requires antibiotic selection with oversight from a qualified veterinarian through a valid Veterinary Clinic Patient Relationship (VCPR). These targets reflect general guidance for markets holistically and are not expected/required of each individual producer.
Moving forward, we will partner in the collection of antibiotic use data associated with global beef and dairy industries, leveraging independent third party/parties to facilitate data aggregation. Currently, there is limited data on antibiotic use in the industry as a whole. Our intention is to help drive positive behavioral change and transparency, as well as enable comprehensive assessment of antibiotics use across our in-scope beef supply chains and industries in the future. We plan to share an update on this journey by the end of 2023.
More information on the market-specific targets for the responsible use of antibiotics in our beef supply chain can be found on page 7 of our updated Antibiotic Policy for our Beef Supply Chain (PDF – 463KB).
Responsible Antibiotic Use in Chicken Supply Chain Goal
Eliminate the use of antibiotics defined by the WHO as Highest Priority Critically Important Antibiotics (HPCIAs) to human medicine from all chicken served by the end of 2027.5
Progress
HPCIA use has been eliminated in the following McDonald’s markets: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Europe, Japan, South Korea and the U.S.
China is expected to comply before the end of 2027.
Advocating for Responsible Antibiotic Use in Beef
In 2018, we implemented McDonald’s Antibiotic Policy for our Beef Supply Chain (PDF – 463KB). Our Policy is informed by our Vision for Antibiotic Stewardship (VAS) and follows global guidance from expert bodies like the WHO and the World Organization for Animal Health. This Policy identifies McDonald’s expectations and anticipated implementation plans with respect to antibiotic use in our beef supply chain while complying with local laws and regulations, focusing on the following beef sourcing countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Poland, the U.K., and the U.S.
Since implementing our Policy in 2018, we have updated it to continue building on McDonald’s longstanding commitment to responsible antibiotic use in food animals. As part of the evolution of our Policy in 2022, we have established market-appropriate responsible use targets informed by significant research, pilot testing and collaboration with subject-matter experts. These efforts focused on our 10 in-scope markets, which accounted for over 80% of our global beef supply chain in 2021. Our targets have been established in alignment with the “One Health” approach and with the 3 R’s (Refine, Reduce and Replace) top of mind. Reduction remains an intended outcome of our responsible use commitment, while allowing for the treatment of sick animals, aligned with herd veterinarian direction.
Our journey is far from over. Partnership and collaboration with stakeholders and suppliers will continue to be critical for us to help drive positive outcomes, as there is currently a lack of consistent processes, definitions, regulations or thresholds for responsible use of antibiotics in beef across our top 10 sourcing markets. While this presents a challenge, we believe we have a responsibility to be part of the solution.
McDonald’s and our suppliers will engage in-scope beef supply chains and industries to share expectations for a responsible use approach to antibiotic use and adherence to criteria contained within our Policy. Because there is limited data on antibiotic use in the industry, we intend to partner in the collection of data associated with global beef and dairy industries across all in-scope markets. This will help us gain understanding of use within our top sourcing markets and enable comprehensive assessment of antibiotics use across in-scope beef supply chains in the future. We intend to leverage independent third-party/parties to facilitate data aggregation, helping to drive positive behavioral change and transparency. We plan to share an update on this journey by the end of 2023.
Additional details on the targets established for specific markets and sectors can be found on page 7 of our Antibiotic Policy for our Beef Supply Chain (PDF - 245 KB).
Implementing a Global Chicken Antibiotics Policy
Since February 2019, we’ve tracked the use of medically important antibiotics across our top 20 suppliers, representing 85 slaughter facilities and more than 5 billion birds, with producer data collection being managed by our third-party provider, the Farm Animal Initiative (FAI). We implemented our Chicken Antibiotics Policy, which includes eliminating the use of HPCIAs as well as not permitting the routine use of antibiotics for disease prevention or growth promotion, in our top chicken sales markets around the world in 2017.5 All in-scope markets are currently on track to eliminate the use of HPCIAs in our chicken supply by the end of 2027 and antibiotics shall not be used for Routine Prevention or for Growth Promotion.
Our Pork Antibiotic Use Policy
We are advancing our work on a policy on the responsible use of antibiotics in our pork supply chain. In 2021, we created a global, cross-functional working group to help develop an antibiotic policy for pork in our supply chain, anchored to responsible use. This draft policy was introduced to our global suppliers, who were asked to conduct gap assessments between the McDonald’s draft criteria and -expectations and their current internal policies on antibiotic use. In 2022, we evaluated the supplier feedback and are leveraging this feedback to inform updates to our policy, including our implementation timeline.
In 2023, in partnership with our suppliers, we will communicate and deploy our policy to pork industries in the in-scope markets. As part of this process, we will identify and develop market-specific plans for collection of antibiotic use data across all in-scope markets.
Footnotes
1 This is applicable to our existing antibiotic use policies for chicken and beef supply chains. Beef: Habitual use of medically important antibiotics for disease prevention is a probable indication of an underlying herd-specific and/or management issue and is not permitted except in the following narrowly defined situations: based upon the determination of a qualified veterinarian familiar with the disease history in the herd, non-routine prevention uses may be permitted if there is a high risk of contraction of a particularly infectious disease. If use is deemed necessary and when effective multiple treatment options exist, McDonald’s encourages adoption of a tiered approach to antibiotic selection— least important to human medicine being the first choice, with Highest Priority Critically Important Antibiotics (HPCIAs) reserved for last resort. Chicken: Antibiotics shall not be used for Routine Prevention or for Growth Promotion. In addition, Antibiotics shall only be prescribed by a licensed chicken veterinarian that has clinically diagnosed an infectious disease or illness, and such Antibiotics must be used strictly in accordance with labeled and veterinary direction for dose, duration, route, frequency, withholding period and withdrawal times.
2 Source: WHO, Stop using antibiotics in healthy animals to prevent the spread of antibiotic resistance.
3 Beef antibiotic use: This goal focuses on Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Poland, the U.K. and the U.S., which represented our top 10 beef sourcing countries and accounted for over 80% of our global beef supply chain as of the end of 2021.
4 Beef antibiotic use: Habitual use of medically important antibiotics for disease prevention is a probable indication of an underlying herd-specific and/or management issue and is not permitted except in the following narrowly defined situations: based upon the determination of a qualified veterinarian familiar with the disease history in the herd, non-routine prevention uses may be permitted if there is a high risk of contraction of a particular infectious disease. If use is deemed necessary and when effective multiple treatment options exist, McDonald’s encourages adoption of a tiered approach to antibiotic selection— least important to human medicine being the first choice, with Highest Priority Critically Important Antibiotics (HPCIAs) reserved for last resort. See full Policy for further information.
5 Chicken antibiotic use: Markets covered by this goal include Brazil, Canada, Japan, South Korea, the U.S., Australia, Russia, China and Europe. For the purposes of this goal, Europe includes Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, the U.K. and Ukraine. Russia is included for the purposes of performance reporting to the end of December 2021.
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