The Consumers Union, Chain Reaction Burger Edition Report gives a failing grade to 22 of 25 fast food restaurants regarding use of antibiotics in beef.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) consider antibiotic-resistant bacteria among the top threats to global public health, and the CDC estimates that each year, at least 23,000 Americans die from resistant infections. The overuse of antibiotics in livestock production significantly contributes to the spread of antibiotic resistance. The more antibiotics are used, the more bacteria become immune to them. More than 70 percent of the medically important antibiotics sold in the U.S. go to food animals. Many meat producers routinely give the drugs to animals that are not sick either to promote faster growth or to prevent disease caused by factory farm production practices. Despite the threat posed to public health, the U.S. lacks effective laws and policies to prevent the overuse of antibiotics in agriculture.
Although there is some progress in the chicken industry in response to such consumer demand, many fast food restaurants have failed to make meaningful commitments to address antibiotic overuse in their beef supply chains.
Burger Scorecard
The Consumers Union study shows that only two chains, Shake Shack and BurgerFi, source beef raised without the routine use of antibiotics.
- 22 of the 25 burger chains surveyed received a failing “F” grade, including McDonald’s, the largest purchaser of beef in the U.S, and In-NOutBurger, a highly popular West Coast chain.
- In 2017, McDonald’s announced an updated vision for antibiotic stewardship across its meat supply chain but has yet to commit to a timeline for implementation beyond chicken.
- In-N-Out Burger publicly announced in 2016 that it intended to source beef raised without medically important antibiotics. Despite requests to do so, the company has yet to follow through with a time-bound commitment or provide any updates on its progress.
- Steak ‘n Shake, Farmer Boys, and Fuddruckers also have no antibiotics policy, and therefore earned an “F;” however, each offers a burger option for consumers that is made using beef raised without antibiotics.
- Wendy’s currently sources 15 percent of its beef from producers that have cut the use of one medically important antibiotic – tylosin – by 20 percent. This modest step earned Wendy’s a “D-” in this scorecard.
Honorable Mentions
Chicken
Of the nation’s top 25 restaurant chains, 18 have adopted policies to limit the routine use of antibiotics in at least one meat category, primarily chicken.
- Three chains – Panera Bread, Chipotle, and Chick-fil-A – received an “A” grade for their policies to source meat raised without the routine use of antibiotics. Chick-fil-A, the newest recipient of an “A” grade, reports that it is on track to have 100 percent of its chicken meet its “No Antibiotics Ever” standard by the end of 2019.
- Eleven chains improved their grades compared to last year. Chick-fil-A, KFC, Jack in the Box, and Papa John’s gained points for progress on implementing their commitments. Pizza Hut and Wendy’s gained points for making further commitments to reduce antibiotic use in their meat supply chains (for more info on Wendy’s, see the Burger Chain Scorecard).
- Domino’s received points for making a new commitment to reduce antibiotic use in its chicken supply chain. Applebee’s and IHOP (both owned by Dine Brands Global) released a new antibiotics policy in August 2018 which states that it is now working with suppliers to end the routine use of medically important antibiotics in its chicken and pork supplies.
- Dunkin’ Donuts moved up to a “D+,” though not due to improved practices, but rather because its sales of beef dropped, so we did not consider beef in calculating its score.
- Cracker Barrel earned an improved “D+” grade. Although the antibiotics claim on their website uses the ambiguous term “human grade,” the company confirmed via email that it only sells meat raised without the routine use of medically important antibiotics; antibiotics are only administered in cases of illness or to control an outbreak. However, Cracker Barrel does not require a third-party auditor to verify those claims. Given the inconsistencies between what Cracker Barrel states on its website and what the company told us, as well as the lack of availability of pork and beef that would meet the company’s claims, we are skeptical that the company’s claims are accurate.
OK, but what about the beef and chicken you buy at the grocery store?
Unless it is labeled antibiotic free, it isn’t. What’s in it? There is no way to know unless you pay for a lab test.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
So In-N-Out has their own slaughterhouses but still they give their customers beef with antibiotics in it…
Major FAIL.
Also 5 guys failed too and Hardee’s failed too.
Free Market. But we have a problem with public goods (antibiotic effectiveness) and externalities (misuse of antibiotics is something for the future or isn’t paid by the misuser).
Who cares if we lose antibiotics in 10 years and you die of an extreme resistant infection from a scratch in your yard if the rabble who only have barista jobs can afford to eat beef now? Just like we want cheaper stuff from China or Mexico (and where does some of that food come from? – they fought country of origin labeling).
As Carl_R points out, most beef is either grain fed or grain finished, and cows get abcesses when they eat grain. Also cattle fatten up faster with antibiotics even when grass fed.
Just like exporting jobs to get cheaper stuff, the price isn’t always the same as the cost. Custom and law usually insure the costs are fully priced in, but with financial engineering and the push for profits over all means we strip-mine everything then declare bankruptcy when it comes time for the cleanup.
Also consider the national debt and the Fed. Who feels the pain of their evil which is predictable? It is in everyone’s interest in general but no one’s in particular.
You can go vegan or just grass fed, and pay more, but it won’t dent the cheap antibiotic beef and the effects because everyone else will continue. So, regulation? No, then we wouldn’t have a free market.
An even more serious problem is with STDs – apparently 1 in 3 Americans have one and they are becoming antibiotic resistant. We will probably wait until syphillis is again incurable to do anything since sex is now a right. But healthcare costs?
There is not this kind of antibiotics in meat problem in Europe.
EU and even countries outside of EU in Europe have FORBIDDEN giving antibiotics to livestock just in case in massive quantities so if a farm in Europe wants to give antibiotics they need to call a vet and give antibiotics only to the sick animal prescribed by the vet.
Meat costs maybe 10% more as a consequence compared to USA.
US should change the policy and copy this one policy from Europe
That is NOT true…here in Lovely Denmark, the pig farmers..he he..are putting antibiotics straight into the water to ALL the pigs tp PREvent infections ect…
Based on the comments, there is a great deal of misunderstanding on this issue. Most cattle today are fattened quickly and efficiently in feed lots, where they are fed feed containing grain. Cattle which are fed grain must also be fed antibiotics. Since so many cattle are being fed antibiotics, that means that there is a massive number of bacteria being exposed to antibiotics. When bacteria are exposed to antibiotics, any that survive had some degree of resistance to that antibiotic. With as many bacteria as are being exposed to antibiotics this way, it is inevitable that some will survive, and that new strains of antibiotic resistant bacteria will emerge.
This is not an issue of sanitation. This is not an issue regarding humans being exposed to residual antibiotics. This is an issue where massive numbers of cattle being constantly exposed to antibiotics creates a laboratory for the creation of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Some of those antibiotic resistant bacteria will ultimately also infect humans, and when they do, have the potential of being very difficult to treat.
This is also not an issue that can be resolved by simply buying a different brand of beef. The only way around buying beef from cattle given antibiotics is to buy grass fed beef, which is 2-3 times more expensive, and which some believe does not taste as good. That is exactly why all the restaurants have a grade “F”, and will continue to get graded “F”.
E Coli in particular.
As I understand it, humans never had any defense to E Coli. The problem with e coli is slightly different because rather than talking about bacteria with immunity to antibiotics, we are talking about meat actually contaminated with E. Coli.
When the pH in the cows stomach is changed by feeding them grain, it promotes the growth of E Coli, which is not a problem in grass fed beef. Thus, incidences of beef contaminated with E. Coli have dramatically increased in recent years, and it is no longer safe to eat hamburgers rare. I suspect it would be safe to eat grass fed beef rare, except that it is no doubt processed on the same equipment used to process grain fed beef, so cross contamination would be an issue.
The E coli become resistant to the antibiotics, so when people get infected with the same E Coli, the antibiotics don’t work. That’s the crux of the problem.
Mostly correct but there are also traces of antibiotics in the meat in USA.
In Europe sick animals given antibiotics by a vet can not be slaughtered for meat until after there has been sufficient time without antibiotics so there are no longer traces of antibiotics in the animal.
Mass giving antibiotics to animals is a stupid policy that should be stopped.
They can not feed grain to cows, and not give the cows antibiotics. It’s not a simple problem to fix.
With all those companies earning an F I have to think their suppliers are just following FDA “recommendations.”
This is only a problem if the beef isn’t cooked properly.
As far as concern over supermarket food: Since you’ll be the one cooking it, make damn sure it’s cooked before consumption and wash your hands after touching anything not cooked. You’ll be fine.
This is weird publication by CU. They aren’t talking about how much antibiotics are in these outfits’ food. They are talking about the outfits’ policies. Self-reported.
Back in the day, CU did their own tests and reported the results. That was their value. Their reports were their product. Has that changed?
Just speculating, but:
Chances are, there are no measurable, or at least no meaningful, traces of antibiotics in the meat the chains sell. If there were, the AMA would be on the frontlines of complaining.
But rather that the “problem” is antibiotics fed to livestock, is believed to result in a general increase in antibiotic resistant bacteria strains systemically.
This is pretty much the case with farm raised salmon. The final product was always antibiotic free, but resistance caused problems for the wider ecosystem.
Problem is, like “global warming,” most people just don’t care all that much about some abstract “ecosystem” when the thickness of their own wallet is at stake. So the Newspeakers are in a constant race to produce ever more colorful and horrific-sounding language to wrap their rather technical “findings” in.
CU could be playing politics? that’s what lobbyist do right?
If you buy grain-fed beef, which most beef is, it must necessarily be given antibiotics. Grain is not a natural food for cows (whereas it is for chickens), and it disturbs the pH balance in their stomachs, so cows fed with grain are prone to a variety of illnesses, and antibiotics are the only choice. Grain fed beef is smoother and contains more marbled fat, besides being cheaper to produce, so it has taken over the market, for the most part.
If you want to avoid antibiotics, do as I do, and either buy grass fed beef, or bison. It’s tougher, and has a different flavor, but I believe you will like the flavor once you get used to it. I do. It is considerably more expensive, however.
Thanks! I suspect for low-quality burgers grass-fed beef tastes just fine. Who can stand that “special sauce” anyway?
Around here grain-fed ground beef is ~$3/lb, grass-fed is ~$7/lb, and bison is ~$18/lb. You will never see grass fed beef in cheap burgers. The key to the growth of grass fed (anti-biotic free) beef is going to be for restaurants to offer a grass-fed burger choice, and for people to be willing to pay more for the flavor and texture of grass-fed beef. I am, but how many others?
Many years ago I worked as a meat cutter in a boxed beef factory. The cutters always could tell whether a load was grass-fed or grain-fed. In grain-fed beef, the knife slid right through and cut it like butter, whereas in grass-fed it was much tougher to pull the knife through (you never sawed, you always just pulled the knife through).
My suggestions is, the next time you buy some ground beef, try a pound of grass-fed and see what you think. Oh, and it is never on sale, sadly, so you can’t stock up and freeze it. I haven’t seen grass-fed steaks or roasts at all, but I’m sure specialty meat markets probably do have them. For me the lack of anti-biotics, and the reduction of risk of e coli contamination makes grass fed my choice every time I buy ground beef.
There is a caveat to ‘grass fed’ beef. The industry is legally allowed to label beef as grass fed if they have been fed a mouthful of grass upon birth. Literally one mouthful. The calves are often born eating grass but once sold to larger operations they are continued on grain. The USDA however allows labeling them as grass fed. The key here is to look for GRASS FINISHED, which means they were fed nothing but grass their entire lives. This beef will easily be 3x more than ‘grass fed’ beef. The USDA, FDA, et al do nothing but lie and deceive the people.
American genuflection to the profits of coporate food and agriculture business [anti-biotics; hormones; genetic modifications] are among the reasons other nations are reluctant to buy American exports !!!
America is also the birthplace of the “organic” movement, at least on any scale (as in, as a real movement. I’m sure there are French and Japanese farmers who have been doing this since the middle ages). And it’s not as if EU factory farming is any better than it’s US equivalent, what with their prion outbreaks, salmonella scares and other embarrassments.
Europe, especially the Med region, and doubly so France, just has always been much more picky about what they put in their mouth. Such that massive, lowest common denominator, cheap as dirt (because it is dirt……) factory farms aren’t nearly as pervasive there as here.
But just look at the Scottish and Norwegian salmon farms, compared to the line caught wild stuff you can still get in Alaska, for conformation that at least the Northern Euros are just as happy to trade quality for lower price, as their American peers.
Ha, I blame Clara Peller. Back in her day they gave you real beef, but in smaller portions. Once the quantity-over-quality mindset kicked into overdrive, chains were happy to give customers all the Frankenbeef they wanted.
now she’d say “Is that beef?”
While antibiotics in the animal supply chain certainly contributes to downstream microbial resistance and antibiotic-resistant infections, the much larger and expensive problem is the carbohydrate toxicity endorsed by a failed food pyramid that has led to astronomic climb in diabetes and heart disease. If you want to really get at a major health problem, stop feeding the human herd the same way we are feeding livestock—grains.
Don’t forget obesity. Or simply call it Diabesity as the two are intertwined.
If people, in general, didn’t tolerate, or heck even thrive on, a grain intense diet, the Neanderthals, or some such, would have beaten us in the survival game.
People used to, out of necessity, use the whole of the grains. And farmed them in either relatively virgin soil, or in soil where the fertilizer used, contained more than the absolute minimum required to grow bulk volume plants in barren sand. So I’m not saying McDonald’s buns are some sort of health food.
Overly simplistic, optimized for volume, factory farming doesn’t result in any food that is healthy in the long run. McD buns are not. McD burgers are not, McD Chicken is not. Heck, I’d be surprised if even their salad is healthy…. Singling out grains, out of al things, completely misses the point.
Grain intensive, yet varied, diets gave us Newton, Einstein and “those guys.” As well as virtually all world records in athletics. While pre grain diets gave us cavemen who could grunt….
Correct, Stuki. Too much of any one food group is a bad thing, and that is especially true if the nutrients are refined out of it. Too much grain is bad, yet people who follow the so-called Paleo diet, which includes no grains, have to face the reality that archeology now reveals that Paleolithic man made bread.
Personally, I attribute many of the bad health issues to excess consumption of sugars, particularly high fructose corn syrup, and far too much consumption of Omega-6 fats. I personally will not eat any food containing Soybean oil, corn oil, safflower oil, or other high Omega-6 oils. You need some Omega 6, but it’s impossible to avoid, so you can’t help but get enough. Instead I eat Olive or Avocado oil, Canola Oil, and a small amount of MCTs from as coconut oil.
A third problem, that may be even more important that what we eat is when we eat. Science shows that down deep in our cells, NAD+ has two jobs. The first is to process glucose from the blood and turn it into a form that our cells can use. The second is to repair damaged DNA. It takes about 8 hours from your last meal before the glucose is removed, at which point your body enters fasting state, and begins to repair damaged DNA.
You should always wait 12 hours between your dinner meal and when you “break fast” in the morning (16 hours is even better). That allows 4 hours for your body to repair itself every day. If you eat at bedtime, or have a mid-night snack, your body never repairs itself, and cascades into degenerative diseases of aging, things like diabetes, alzheimers, etc.
I just read an article about type 2 diabetes and fasting. People with type 2 diabetes went on fasting diets of various types and almost all of the subjects were able to get off insulin after a few months.
By far the simplest, least speculative and most effective way to get and stay healthier, for by far most people, is just to move more. Walk, run or ride a bicycle to work (heck, even a motorcycle is waaay more physical than sitting in a car), take the stairs, and lift something sometimes.
Things are sooo backwards now, that the people you’d think would have the hardest time getting “exercise”, those in dense cities, get more of it than suburbanites, and even than many rural people. Simply because parking is less convenient in San Francisco than in some exurbia. So you end up walking. Or at least did, pre Uber…….