The Subway
fast-food restaurant chain is the latest to succumb to pressure from animal
welfare activist organizations, announcing that it will only buy chicken,
turkey, beef and pork from farmers who don’t use antibiotics.
The sandwich
chain had said this summer that it would start switching to chicken raised
without antibiotics important to human medicine by next year.
Now, it says
it will serve chicken that receive no antibiotics starting in March, 2016.
That
announcement came just as animal activist groups were organizing a street
protest in front of the company’s head office in Upland, California.
Subway will
also make the change to turkey starting sometime next year, with a transition
expected to be complete within two to three years.
Pork and beef
raised without antibiotics will follow within six years after that, or by 2025,
the company says.
Subway said
its announcement was the "culmination of several months of intensive work
with suppliers" and that it is proud to finally be in a position to share
its plans.
It said the
decision was not a reaction to any campaign, and that it continually works on
improving its menu.
The
announcement comes as multiple groups including Natural Resources Defense
Council, Friends of the Earth, the Center for Food Safety, U.S. Public Interest
Research Group and food blogger Vani Hari had campaigned to get Subway to
commit to buying meat produced without the routine use of antibiotics, and
provide a timeline for doing so.
