Papa John’s switching to antibiotic-free chicken

Papa John's announced its grilled chicken pizza toppings and chicken poppers will come from birds raised without human or animal antibiotics, as well as fed a 100-percent vegetarian diet, by the summer of 2016.
The company has already made concrete strides toward this commitment by securing contracts with its suppliers, ensuring that they are on track to complete the process on schedule.
"This antibiotics initiative embodies everything our brand stands for," said John Schnatter, founder and CEO of Papa John's. "I started this company over 31 years ago on a foundation of quality and a commitment to my customers to deliver on a promise of ‘Better Ingredients. Better Pizza.' By serving high-quality chicken products without added human or animal antibiotics, we're just taking the next step on our journey to always get ‘better.'"
With the announcement made on December 16, Papa John’s becomes the first national pizza chain to pledge removal of antibiotics from its chicken supply. It also joins a list of restaurant chains to eliminate or reduce use of meat and poultry from animals treated with antibiotics. Others to announce either a move away from all antibiotics or antibiotics used in human medicine include Chipotle, Panera Bread, Subway, Chick-fil-A, McDonald’s, Dunkin’ Donuts and Wendy’s.

McDonald’s Canada adopting stricter antibiotics policy

McDonald’s will stop serving chicken from birds raised with the use of antibiotics that are important to human medicine at its restaurants in Canada. The proposed change is expected to be fully implemented by the end of 2018.
“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 Ltd.
McDonald’s USA has been working closely with farmers for years to reduce the use of antibiotics in its poultry supply and in March announced it would phase out serving meat from chickens treated with the use of antibiotics also used in human medicine over the next two years.
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.
All of the chicken served at McDonald’s more than 1,400 Canadian restaurants, including in its iconic Chicken McNuggets, 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 three 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.
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 concerning antibiotics in chickens is the latest step in McDonald’s journey to evolve its menu to better meet the changing preferences and expectations of its guests. in September McDonald’s announced it would transition to 100 percent cage-free eggs in its U.S. and Canadian restaurants over the next 10 years.

Subway switching to antibiotic-free poultry, pork, beef

Sandwich restaurant chain Subway revealed that it intends to stop serving meat and poultry from animals that have been raised with the use of any antibiotics at all of its restaurants in the United States. The antibiotic-free policy was announced on October 20.
Under the new policy, the restaurant chain confirmed that it will transition to only serving chicken raised with no antibiotics of any kind in early 2016, departing from a statement made earlier in 2015 that the company would switch to serving chicken from birds raised without the use of antibiotics deemed important in human medicine. The chain also announced it would start serving turkey raised without antibiotics in 2016 and completely transition to turkey raised without antibiotics within 2-3 years.
All beef and pork served in the restaurant chain will be antibiotic-free by 2025.
 “Today’s consumer is ever more mindful of what they are eating, and we’ve been making changes to address what they are looking for,” said Dennis Clabby, executive vice president of Subway’s Independent Purchasing Cooperative (IPC). “A change like this will take some time, particularly since the supply of beef raised without antibiotics in the U.S. is extremely limited and cattle take significantly longer to raise. But, we are working diligently with our suppliers to make it happen.”
“Given the size and scope of the Subway brand, this commitment is the largest of its kind in the restaurant industry,” added Clabby. “We hope that this commitment will encourage other companies in our industry to follow our lead, and that, together, this will drive suppliers to move faster to make these important changes for consumers.”
Subway, headquartered in Bridgeport, Connecticut, has more than 27,000 restaurants in the United States.
The announcement comes just one month after Subway received a failing grade on its antibiotics policy in the report, Chain Reaction: How Top Restaurants Tate on Reducing Use of Antibiotics in Their Meat Supply. The reportwas 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.

Hospitals urged to serve antibiotic-free meat, poultry

Scientists from the University of California-San Francisco (UCSF) are urging hospitals to stop serving meat and poultry from animals raised with antibiotics.
Pointing to a possible link between human antibiotic resistance and the use of antibiotics in animal agriculture, the UCSF scientists wrote a letter that was recently published in the American Journal of Public Health. Michael Martin, MD, assistant clinical professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at UCSF was the lead author of the piece that was co-written by UCSF colleagues Sapna E. Thottathil, PhD, and Thomas B. Newman, MD.
“Hospitals have a moral responsibility to serve the community and patients,” said Martin.
The letter was published just days after the authors’ own governor the nation’s strictest law concerning antibiotics in animal agriculture. Gov. Jerry Brown signed SB 27, which calls for an end to antibiotic growth promoters in livestock and poultry. It also requires that medically important antibiotics only be administered when ordered by a veterinarian. The provisions of the law will take effect at the first of 2018.
Many meat and poultry producers based in California had already been active in antibiotic-free production. For example, Foster Farms in 2015 launched the Foster Farms Organic and Foster Farms Simply Raised antibiotic-free chicken. Its first antibiotic-free turkey product, Foster Farms Organic Ground Turkey, was introduced in July.

Report grades restaurant chains on antibiotic policies

Pressure for restaurant chains to reduce or eliminate meat and poultry raised with antibiotics continues, as a newly published report that evaluated the 25 largest quick-service and fast-casual restaurant chains in the U.S. for their policies concerning antibiotics gave a passing grade to only five chains.
The report, Chain Reaction: How Top Restaurants Tate on Reducing Use of Antibiotics in Their Meat Supply, 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. The report was prepared as concerns grow about the potential link between antibiotic use in animal agriculture and antibiotic resistance.
The CEOs of all 25 restaurant chains listed in the report were sent a letter, signed by 109 organizations, urging them to eliminate the routine use of antibiotics in their meat supply.

Restaurants with passing grades

The report evaluated the restaurant chains and gave them grades, similar to those students would receive in school.
Panera Bread and Chipotle, well-known for their strict antibiotics policies, and have publicly affirmed that the majority of their meat and poultry is produced without routine use of antibiotics, were the only two companies to receive an A grade.
Chick-fil-A was the only chain to receive a B grade. That company in February 2014 announced its plan to move to serving chicken raised without any antibiotics within the next five years.
Earning a C grade were McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts. McDonald’s on March 4 announced that within the next two years it would eliminate chicken that was raised with antibiotics deemed important to human medicine. Dunkin’ Donuts, according to the report, has a policy covering limited antibiotic use in all of the meats it serves, but no timeline has been given.
No companies received a D grade.

Restaurants with failing grades

The remaining U.S. restaurant chains evaluated in the report were given an F in the report. Those chains include Wendy’s, Burger King, Denny’s, Domino’s, Papa John’s, Starbucks, Olive Garden, Subway, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC, Applebee’s, Sonic, Chili’s, Jack in the Box, Arby’s, Dairy Queen, IHOP, Outback Steakhouse and Little Caesars.
However, some of those restaurant chains to receive failing grades have started a move in the direction of serving meat and poultry raised without antibiotics.
Several weeks ago, Subway announced it would switch to serving chicken raised without antibiotics used in human medicine within two years. It is also exploring antibiotic-free options in turkey and ham it serves.
Also, Wendy’s announced in July that it is testing the sale of antibiotic-free chicken at restaurants in four regional markets.

Teamwork required in antibiotic-free poultry production

Successful antibiotic-free poultry production necessitates re-evaluation of every aspect of live flock production. Each segment of the operation must work toward the common goal and understand the importance of their responsibilities.
Register at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7466070250084705794?linknumber=website to attend “Antibiotic-free poultry production requires teamwork,” a webinar sponsored by Jones Hamilton and presented by WATT Global Media. The webinar will be held Wednesday, October 7, 2015, at 9 a.m. CDT.
This presentation will cover the primary factors that must be addressed to successfully implement a successful antibiotic-free poultry program. There is no single program that will work across the board. Close husbandry of the birds is the key element to success, along with open communication among all parties. Realize that this is a learning process and be willing to adopt new ways of doing your job.
By attending this webinar, you will learn:

• The role of team members throughout antibiotic-free production
• Why antibiotic-free production increases the complexity of daily operations, especially for personnel in direct contact with birds
• The significant role husbandry plays in successful antibiotic-free operations

Speakers for this webinar will be Dr. John B. Carey, professor at Texas A&M University and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Applied Poultry Research, and Dr. Andres Montoya, technical services poultry veterinarian for Merck Animal Health.
Carey has been active in the Poultry Science Association (PSA) since 1976. He has served as a past president as well as associate editor of Poultry Science and the Journal of Applied Poultry Research, as section editor of Poultry Science, and as a Federation of Animal Science Societies (FASS) board member. He is currently serving as a PSA Foundation Board member and as the FASS treasurer. He has been a member or chair of numerous committees for PSA and the USA branch of the WPSA. He earned his Master of Science from South Dakota State University in 1979 and his PhD from Kansas State University in 1982. From 1982 to 1989, he was a member of the faculty in the Poultry Science Department at North Carolina State University. From 1989 to the present, he has been a faculty member of the Department of Poultry Science at Texas A&M University, serving as associate department head and extension program leader from 1993-2006 and as department head from 2006-12. He is currently engaged in undergraduate teaching and conducting laying hen and broiler production research, and also serves as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Applied Poultry Research.
Montoya is a technical services poultry veterinarian for Merck Animal Health in the United States. He has more than 10 years of field technical support experiences in the allied industry where he works closely with poultry producers providing technical services and support to help to identify problems and provide effective solutions. His role and previous jobs also encompass occasional international travels, bringing a wider perspective to his knowledge of the poultry production systems. He received his DVM degree from University of La Salle Bogotá, Colombia. Montoya earned a Master’s degree in preventive veterinary medicine at the University of California at Davis. He then completed residency training at University of California at Davis with a focus in poultry medicine. He served as assistant professor in the Department of Population Health and Reproduction at the College of Veterinary Medicine at University of California at Davis. Montoya also received a Master’s degree in avian medicine at University of Georgia. Montoya is a Diplomate of the American College of Poultry Veterinarians, and a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the American Association of Avian Pathologists, and the Professional Animal Auditor Certification Organization. Prior to Merck Animal Health, he worked at Novus International and AB Vista North America Poultry Business Unit.

Subway moves away from chicken raised with antibiotics

U.S. based sandwich restaurant chain Subway says it will make the switch to serving chicken raised without antibiotics that are also used in human medicine by 2016.
The company, according to a Nation’s Restaurant News report, added that it is also looking at antibiotic-free options for turkey, pork and other meats it serves. However, it has not given any timeline on when those changes will be made, citing challenges with finding enough suppliers to meet the chain’s needs.
Subway is making the changes after receiving pressure to reduce or eliminate sales of meat from livestock and poultry raised with antibiotics. In June, the company’s president and CEO, Frederick DeLuca, received a letter signed by representatives from 60 groups seeking an end to antibiotic use.
As public concerns grow about how animal antibiotic use might play a role in antibiotic resistance, a number of major chain restaurants have adopted or are adopting policies eliminating or reducing the use of meats from animals raised with antibiotics.
McDonald’s in March announced that it would phase out the use of chicken meat from birds raised with medically important antibiotics. In 2014, Chick-fil-A announced that it would exclusively sell chicken raised without antibiotics within five years. Other major restaurant chains to adopt antibiotic-free policies concerning the meats it sells in its restaurants include Chipotle and Panera Bread.
Subway has more than 44,000 restaurants in 110 countries. More than 27,000 of those restaurants are located in the U.S.

Massachusetts university to serve antibiotic-free chicken

The University of Massachusetts-Amherst (UMass) has pledged to serve 100 percent antibiotic-free chicken in all of its retail and residential operations.
As part of the dining program’s ongoing partnership with NatureRaised Farms, part of the Tyson Foods family of companies, UMass Dining Services is one of the first universities and the largest college and university foodservice program in the country to take this pledge.
The decision was made following a survey that concluded in April.  The survey revealed the student body believes in the importance of antibiotic-free animal production.
Currently, chicken is consumed more than any other protein source at UMass Amherst.  In fiscal year 2015, UMass Dining began sourcing local, no-antibiotic-ever chicken and turkey, purchasing more than 30,000 pounds. This new initiative will add to the local supply bringing total consumption of no-antibiotic-ever chicken and turkey to more than 750,000 pounds annually.
“Switching to no-antibiotic-ever chicken is the right thing to do,” said Ken Toong, executive director of Auxiliary Enterprises at UMass Amherst. “Not only are the students demanding it, but as the largest campus dining operation in the United States, we wanted to take a leadership role in the foodservice industry by making this pledge. We appreciate the support from Tyson Foods and we will continue to source healthier and more socially and environmentally responsible ingredients for our customers.”
Initial reactions from the campus community have been positive.
UMass Dining is the largest dining program in the nation and serves 45,000 meals per day, 6 million meals per year and has more than 18,000 people on a meal plan who dine at four residential dining commons and over 30 retail locations around campus.
All NatureRaised Farms products are developed to reach the core natural and organic consumer. All are made with 100 percent all natural ingredients, with no preservatives, no artificial colors, no fillers, no trans fats, are minimally processed and are nutritionally responsible. NatureRaised Farms chickens are raised with no antibiotics ever, a vegetarian diet and certified by third party animal welfare. NatureRaised Farms is a registered trademark of Tyson Foods.