Available data suggests that McDonald’s, Subway, and Taco Bell appear to have failed to honor their commitments to reduce, or even end, the routine use of medically important antibiotics in their beef supply by 2025.
That’s the finding of “Serving Up Superbugs Revisited,” a report released on Thursday by the Food Animal Concerns Trust, or FACT, Keep Antibiotics Working Coalition, and U.S. PIRG Education Fund, all advocacy groups.
After reviewing these companies’ websites and public communications and making direct requests for updates from corporate leadership, the report’s authors concluded that all three of the companies failed to meet their commitments.
“When McDonald’s announced that they would work with beef suppliers to reduce the routine use of medically important antibiotics in 2018, we were thrilled,” Andre Delattre, senior vice president with U.S. PIRG Education Fund and co-author of the report, said in a statement.
McDonald’s said it would establish benchmarks on antibiotic use in beef, dramatically reduce its use of antibiotics, and report its progress on a regular basis to the public starting in 2022.
Delattre said McDonald’s is uniquely positioned, as one of the largest purchasers of beef, to make the change that is critically important to ensure that antibiotics continue to be effective and save lives.
The report says there’s evidence that the practice of antibiotic overuse in agriculture is getting worse.
Between 2023 and 2024, the Food and Drug Administration reported a 16 percent increase in the use of medically important antibiotics in animal agriculture.
“The fast food industry can be a leader in reversing this trend,” Delattre said.
Gail Hansen, DVM, a public health veterinarian, said large food chains have had years to fulfill their commitment to buy beef only from producers using fewer antibiotics, to help control antibiotic resistance.
“The public should be able to rely on these companies to follow through on promises made,” Hansen said.
Reports indicate that without major action, the global death toll of antibiotic-resistant infections will outpace cancer deaths by 2050. And it’s estimated that at least 35,000 Americans will lose their lives every year from an antibiotic-resistant infection.
“Given that overusing antibiotics leads to antibiotic-resistant ‘superbugs,’ it’s irresponsible to routinely dose livestock with these life-saving medications,” Douglas H. Phelps, president and executive director of The Public Interest Network, said. “The companies we spotlight in our report should use their purchasing power to compel suppliers to use antibiotics on farm animals only when necessary to fight infection.”
Otherwise, drugs that have worked miracles since World War II will no longer be so miraculous, Phelps said.
“We gave these companies credit for committing to protect their customers and the general public from deadly superbugs, but when it came time to fulfill these promises, the companies completely stopped responding,” said Steve Roach, safe and healthy food program director at FACT and co-author of the report.
The three groups say there’s an urgent need for action.
The Keep Antibiotics Working Coalition wants McDonald’s, Subway, and Taco Bell to get back on the right path by tracking, reducing, and reporting on the amount of antibiotics used in their beef supply.
“These companies made a promise to protect public health,” Delattre said. “It’s time they kept it, before more of these life-saving drugs stop working, and more lives are lost.”
