Activists opposed to the use of antibiotics in chicken at KFC submitted a shareholder resolution early this week urging parent company YUM! Brands to follow the lead of other fast-food chains, such as McDonald’s that recently announced that it will serve chicken not treated with antibiotics important to human medicine nearly a year ahead of schedule.
Yum! Brands Taco Bell and Pizza Hut have already pledged to use antibiotic-free chicken by March of next year. Chick-fil-A, Subway, Wendy’s and others have also set policies to curb the use of antibiotics in chicken production.
KFC’s “position on antibiotics is currently being reviewed to determine the viability for our suppliers to go beyond the FDA guidance for antibiotic usage,” said a Yum statement issued Monday this week. KFC has said that by 2017, antibiotics important for human health will only be used to maintain chicken health and only under the supervision and prescription of a licensed veterinarian. As per federal government guidance, KFC does not allow the use of such antibiotics for growth promotion.
The KFC shareholder resolution protesting chicken policy was filed late Monday, before a six-month deadline for YUM! Brands next shareholder annual meeting in 2017. Critics say that the stated policy at KFC effectively allows for routine use of antibiotics by its chicken suppliers. Advocates appear to be targeting KFC because it has far more restaurants than other fast-food chicken chains and is second in sales behind Chick-fil-A, which has committeed to finishing its swtich to chicken raised without any antibiotics by the end of 2019.
