[fullwidth background_color=”” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”0″ padding_right=”0″ hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][title size=”1″ content_align=”left” style_type=”underline solid” sep_color=”#000000″ margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]Ag industry not taking kindly to Subway announcement on antibiotics[/title][fusion_text]Friday, October 23rd 2015
Earlier this week, Subway announced it would phase out the use of antibiotics in meat served in its restaurants, and many in the agricultural industry haven’t taken kindly to the news. On Tuesday, Subway said it would strengthen its current antibiotic policy to include all proteins served in its more than 27,000 U.S. locations. Its existing policy stipulates that only chickens raised without antibiotics medically important to humans can be served, but now it won’t allow the use of any antibiotics in chicken, turkey, pork, and beef, including when antibiotics are used to treat and control disease. The policy change will be realized through different stages across different proteins. According to Subway, it has already started to transition away from using chicken treated with antibiotics and expects to completely phase out the practice by the end of 2016. Turkey products without any exposure to antibiotics are expected to be introduced in 2016 and take two to three years to become the standard. Beef and pork will take much longer; Subway hopes to complete the transition in those products by 2025. The response from many in agriculture has been a little less sunny. Many have argued that eliminating antibiotic use in livestock entirely puts the animals’ welfare at risk. Subway’s own website gives somewhat conflicting messages on the issue. In a section dedicated to explaining the company’s stance on animal welfare, it states that their plan is to “eliminate the use of antibiotics in phases,” but later goes on to say that the company’s policy is that antibiotics “can be used to treat, control and prevent disease, but not for growth promotion of farm animals.”
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