KFC faces pressure after McDonald's changes tack
KFC, the world's largest chain of fried chicken restaurants, may face pressure from consumer and environmental groups to change how its poultry are raised after McDonald's said it would switch to chicken raised without human antibiotics.
McDonald's will phase out chicken raised with antibiotics that are important to human health over two years to allay concerns that use of the drugs in meat production has exacerbated the rise of deadly "superbugs" that resist treatment. Within days, retailer Costco Wholesale said it aimed to eliminate the sale of chicken and meat raised with human antibiotics.
KFC is owned by Louisville, Kentucky-based Yum Brands which has no publicly stated policy on antibiotic use in the production of meat it buys. Chick-fil-A, another chicken restaurant chain, says about 20 per cent of the chicken it serves is raised without any antibiotics, and that its entire supply chain will be converted by 2019.
Both McDonald's and Yum are stepping up efforts to win back younger and wealthier diners lured away by chains such as such as Chipotle Mexican Grill and Panera Bread, which boast antibiotic-free meats and other high-quality ingredients. Yum's KFC restaurants in China two years ago suffered a massive sales hit following local media reports a few poultry farmers supplying KFC fed excessive levels of antibiotics to their chickens.
"The train has left the station," Bob Goldin, a food services company consultant at Technomic in Chicago, said of McDonald's influence on US chicken production standards.
Yum declined to discuss its standards for antibiotic use in meat production. "The chicken served in our US restaurants is USDA high quality, and free of antibiotics," the company said.
Yum and its brands have ignored requests for information regarding its antibiotic policy, said Kari Hamerschlag of Friends of the Earth's food and technology programme.
"They have so far not answered any of our emails or phone calls," said Hamerschlag, who is working with other advocacy groups to persuade food companies to change their supplier standards to exclude animals raised with the routine use of antibiotics.
