McDonald's Goes Natural by Ending Antibiotic Use in Chickens

In a major change for McDonald's, the fast food company announced that they will stop using chicken raised with human antibiotics.

The policy change was announced in a press release. The move reflects a recognition by the company that more and more consumers prefer organic or antibiotic free food products.

"Our customers want food that they feel great about eating - all the way from the farm to the restaurant - and these moves take a step toward better delivering on those expectations," said McDonald's U.S President Mike Andres.

In addition to phasing out the use of chickens raised with antibiotics, the company will also use milk products that do not contain an artificial growth hormone known as rbST.

The process of phasing out antibiotic raised chickens is expected to take two years and will affect all of the company's 14,000 restaurants in North America. The changes to milk products are expected to be completed by the end of 2015.

In addition to consumer concerns about having natural foods, the company is also doing its part to fight antibiotic resistance. Many diseases that were previously treatable with antibiotics have evolved to make those antibiotics less effective.

While this is due in part to the over-prescribing of antibiotics by doctors, scientists have said that the presence of antibiotics on industrial farms allows the drugs to enter the soil and water supply, spreading them far and wide. This transmission allows diseases to become familiar with and adapt to the drugs over time.

McDonald's chicken suppliers will still give their animals a class of antibiotics that are not designed to be used with humans.

Whether this change will be enough to help McDonald's recover financial ground it has recently lost remains to be seen. The company recently elected a new CEO after a series of disappointing financial results.