Skip to content
CapRadio

CapRadio

listen live donate
listen live donate
listen live
donate
  • News
    • News

    • State Government
    • Environment
    • Health Care
    • Race and Equity
    • Business
    • Arts and Lifestyle
    • Food and Sustainability
    • PolitiFact California
    News
    • News

    • State Government
    • Environment
    • Health Care
    • Race and Equity
    • Business
    • Arts and Lifestyle
    • Food and Sustainability
    • PolitiFact California
  • Music
    • Music

    • Classical
    • Jazz
    • Eclectic

    • Daily Playlist
    Music
    • Music

    • Classical
    • Jazz
    • Eclectic

    • Daily Playlist
  • Podcasts & Shows
  • Schedules
  • Events
  • Support
    • Support
    • Ways to support
    • Evergreen Donation
    • One-Time Donation
    • Corporate Sponsorship
    • Vehicle Donation
    • Stock Giving
    • Legacy Giving
    • Endowment Support
    • Members
    • Member Benefits
    • Member FAQ
    • Member Newsletter

    • Fund drives
    • Drawing Winners
    • Thank You Gifts
    Support
    • Support
    • Ways to support
    • Evergreen Donation
    • One-Time Donation
    • Corporate Sponsorship
    • Vehicle Donation
    • Stock Giving
    • Legacy Giving
    • Endowment Support
    • Members
    • Member Benefits
    • Member FAQ
    • Member Newsletter

    • Fund drives
    • Drawing Winners
    • Thank You Gifts
  • About
  • Close Menu
 We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter 
 We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter 
  • Health Care
  • Food and Sustainability
  •  

What's In Your McMuffin? New Study Looks at Fast Food and Antibiotics

  •  Sammy Caiola 
Thursday, September 28, 2017 | Sacramento, CA
Listen
/
Update RequiredTo play audio, update browser or Flash plugin.
Mike Mozart / Flickr
 

Mike Mozart / Flickr

Some California groups are putting pressure on fast food chains this week to fight antibiotic use in their beef, pork and poultry.

A new report released by the nonprofit California Public Interest Research Group Education Fund and authored by Consumers Union ranks popular fast food restaurants based on how much of their meat is treated with antibiotics.

Some research has shown that widespread antibiotic use in animals can lead to the transfer of antibiotic-resistant bacteria to humans through the meat supply.

Fourteen of the 25 fast food chains in the study have implemented some kind of livestock antibiotic policy.

CalPIRG Education Fund director Emily Rusch says she's happy some restaurants are starting to be more cautious. 

“It’s especially important that the marketplace steps up," Rusch says, "and so we’re excited to note how much progress has actually been made in the last year.”

Each restaurant chain received a grade for their policies around antibiotics in their meat supply. Here's the list:

A: Chipotle, Panera

B+: Subway

B-: Taco Bell, KFC

C+: McDonald's

C: Wendy's

D+: Pizza Hut, Starbucks Coffee

D: Dunkin' Donuts, Jack in the Box, Burger King, Papa John's

F: Dairy Queen, Sonic, Olive Garden, Applebee's, Domino's Pizza, Chili's, Little Caesars, Arby's, IHOP, Cracker Barrel, Buffalo Wild Wings

There's been a lot of regulation around antibiotic use for livestock at the federal level. Farmers used to be able to give antibiotics to animals via their food and water, both to improve growth and to prevent disease outbreaks in the pens. Now, they can only be used for the latter. 

But Rusch says farmers are still pumping lots of drugs into their animals. And that can mean big problems for human health.

"Antibiotic resistant bacteria, if they're allowed to flourish on the farm, don't just stay on the farm," she says. "They can travel through air, through food, through water, to infect human populations."

Noelle Cremers of the California Farm Bureau Federation says some antibiotics are necessary to keep livestock healthy. 

"Animals get sick just like people do, and we need to treat them just as we need to be treated if we get sick." 

Though the World Health Organization, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other major groups have voiced concern about anitbiotic use among livestock, it's unclear to what extent the "superbug" problem has to do with animals. 

Dr. Terry Lehenbauer is a professor of veterinary medicine at UC Davis. He says picking something up from meat is possible, but unlikely.

“Because of the way food is produced and the way it’s processed and cooked and served," Lehenbauer says, "the opportunities for a resistant organism to be present, to be transmitted in the food, to undergo the normal cooking and preparation steps and still survive, to be exposed to a person that might be consuming that food and then to develop an infection, and then to develop an infection that would be resistant to normal treatment is a possibility, but it’s an extremely rare situation.”

Starting in 2018 in California, farmers will need approval from a veterinarian to give any antibiotics to livestock. 

Follow us for more stories like this

CapRadio provides a trusted source of news because of you.  As a nonprofit organization, donations from people like you sustain the journalism that allows us to discover stories that are important to our audience. If you believe in what we do and support our mission, please donate today.

Donate Today  

 healthcarehealth carefast foodantibiotics

Andrew Nixon / CapRadio

Sammy Caiola

Former Healthcare Reporter

Sammy Caiola has been covering medical breakthroughs, fitness fads and health policy in California since 2014. Before joining CapRadio, Sammy was a health reporter at The Sacramento Bee.  Read Full Bio 

 @sammycaiola Email Sammy Caiola

Sign up for ReCap and never miss the top stories

Delivered to your inbox every Friday.

 

Check out a sample ReCap newsletter.

Thanks for subscribing!

Thank you for signing up for the ReCap newsletter! We'll send you an email each Friday with the top stories from CapRadio.

Browse all newsletters

More Health Care Stories

Scott Olson/Getty Images

The FDA may soon authorize a spring round of COVID-19 boosters for some people

March 29, 2023

Most Viewed

State may scale down its new home loan program designed to assist first-time homebuyers

A plumber crawled under a house in Los Angeles to do a job and then went missing

California coronavirus updates: The FDA may soon authorize another round of boosters for some individuals

California coronavirus updates: Americans' life expectancy has dropped to 76 years, second time in a row since pandemic

10 new California laws that go into effect in 2023

We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter

Most Viewed

State may scale down its new home loan program designed to assist first-time homebuyers

A plumber crawled under a house in Los Angeles to do a job and then went missing

California coronavirus updates: The FDA may soon authorize another round of boosters for some individuals

California coronavirus updates: Americans' life expectancy has dropped to 76 years, second time in a row since pandemic

10 new California laws that go into effect in 2023

Back to Top

  • CapRadio

    7055 Folsom Boulevard
    Sacramento, CA 95826-2625

    •  
      (916) 278-8900
    •  
      (877) 480-5900
    •  Contact / Feedback
    •  Submit a Tip / Story Idea
  • About

    • Mission / Vision / Core Values
    • Stations & Coverage Map
    • Careers & Internships
    • Staff Directory
    • Board of Directors
    • Press
  • Listening Options

    • Mobile Apps
    • Smart Speakers
    • Podcasts & Shows
    • On-Air Schedules
    • Daily Playlist
    • Signal Status
  • Connect

    •  Facebook
    •  Twitter
    •  Instagram
    •  YouTube
  • Donate

  • Listen Live

  • Newsletters

CapRadio stations are licensed to California State University, Sacramento. © 2023, Capital Public Radio. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Website Feedback FCC Public Files: KXJZ KKTO KUOP KQNC KXPR KXSR KXJS. For assistance accessing our public files, please call 916-278-8900 or email us.