Sixteen restaurant chains graded ‘F’ on antibiotics in meat, poultry

Far too many restaurant chains still serve antibiotic-laden meat

Arby’s may “have the meats,” but it looks like those meats are filled with loads of prescription antibiotics.

Same with KFC, Denny’s, Applebee’s, Starbucks and 12 other fast food and sit-down big name restaurants.

Those are the 16 food chains that got an “F” grade on the latest report by six nonprofits on poultry and meat. Those menu items may look good on the outside, but are actually a hotbed of antibiotics on the inside.

And they’re helping to fuel the most dangerous health crisis in recent times.

Money talks

If this is what the popular fast food chain means by “how you Sonic,” we’re really in hot water!

Sonic was another one of the restaurants that got a failing grade in a new investigation called “Chain Reaction II,” about antibiotic use in the meat and poultry served up by several dozen popular chains.

And considering that only two received an “A” grade — Panera and Chipotle — it looks like eating out has become riskier than ever.

The Natural Resources Defense Council, Consumers Union and four other groups that issued the report calls this kind of uncontrolled antibiotic use in livestock something that will “make it more likely that patients will die.”

As I’ve been warning you, dumping millions pounds of antibiotics into farm animals is one of the big reasons why drug-resistant superbugs have become so prevalent. And those drugs aren’t being given to sick animals, either, but rather to healthy ones to make them grow faster and fatter.

This means public health is now being put at serious risk for the sake of a quick fix to make meat and poultry prices as cheap as possible.

If you’re wondering where the FDA is in all this, well, that’s a very good question! Last month I told you about “Guidance 213,” which is another one of those pieces of agency busywork that accomplishes nothing.

Guidance 213 was supposed to stop this uncontrolled, profit-driven farm antibiotic bonanza by asking agribusiness companies to voluntarily — that’s right voluntarily — stop routinely giving drugs to farm animals.

Only it obviously isn’t working. What a surprise!

Other big names that got an F in this report include: Dunkin’ Donuts, Little Caesars, Burger King, IHOP, Domino’s, Jack in the Box, Chili’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dairy Queen and Olive Garden.

Olive Garden, owned by a company called Darden Restaurants, is now under heavy pressure from investors to buy antibiotic-free meat and poultry. In fact, they turned up the heat at the company’s recent shareholders meetings where a letter was presented from a group of investors who manage over $1 trillion in assets to start making the grade — or else.

And at this point, it looks like that’s the only thing that may fix this crisis. Money appears to talk a lot louder than common sense.

Some restaurants, such as Subway, did better than last year. The chain went from an “F” to a “B.” The report credits that improvement to pressure from investors and consumers.

Dunkin’ Donuts, on the other hand, got downgraded to an “F” after it actually made its antibiotic policy weaker! Oh, and nine chains didn’t even bother responding to the survey about where they source their meat and poultry from at all.

Look, even if you don’t set foot in most of these restaurants, you should make your voice heard on this issue. Because it’s clear the consumer has the power to turn the tide with these chains.

Another thing the report revealed is that there are numerous smaller franchises not included in the survey that have very strong anti-antibiotic policies, again showing that it can be done.

These health-conscious chains include Au Bon Pain, Jason’s Deli and Culvers.

To read the full report, go here.

Sources:
“Are there too many antibiotics in your fast food meat?” Ben Tinker, September 22, 2016, CNN, cnn.com