Industry takes action
Several food industry stakeholders have initiated programs in an effort to curb the use of antibiotics in animal production, including:
Panera Bread Co.
Panera Bread has expanded the number of meat proteins without antibiotics it serves by adding such antibiotic-free items as roasted turkey, smoked chicken, breakfast sausage, ham and bacon.
Tyson Foods, Inc.
Tyson Foods, the world’s second-largest marketer of chicken, beef and pork, has committed to eliminating the use of human antibiotics from its U.S. broiler chicken flocks by September 2017. Tyson Foods also committed to working with its farmers on ways to reduce antibiotics in supply chains for independent cattle, hog and turkey farms.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Wal-Mart Stores is asking its suppliers to limit antimicrobial treatment to animals that are either ill or at risk, as well as requesting that they implement the American Veterinary Medical Association’s standards for the judicious use of antibiotics.
