Guide to Wellness – July 2019

CR.ORG GUIDE TO WELLNESS 11

Keeping Antibiotics off the Menu

A new report shows where quick-service restaurants stand on serving

meat and poultry raised without antibiotics.

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THOUGH MOST OF the top 25 chain restaurants no

longer serve chicken that has been raised with antibiot-

ics, a new annual review of the top 25 burger chains

reveals a very different pattern for beef.

“Chain Reaction IV: Burger Edition,” produced

annually by Consumer Reports—along with the Center

for Food Safety, Friends of the Earth, the Food Animal

Concerns Trust, the Natural Resources Defense

Council, and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group—

grades two types of popular burger restaurants on

their current antibiotic policies.

For the first time, the 2018

report provides two score-

cards, one that covers the

top 25 fast-food and fast-

casual restaurant chains and

one that looks at the top 25

burger chains.

Among the burger chains,

only two, BurgerFi and Shake

Shack, received A grades for

serving beef not raised with

antibiotics. But the larger

burger chains, including

Burger King, McDonald’s,

and Sonic, got failing grades,

and Wendy’s got a D-minus.

(Shortly after the release of

the Chain Reaction IV Re-

port, McDonald’s announced

plans to reduce the use of

antibiotics in its global beef

supply chain.)

Opt for Sustainability

Use the scorecards

on page 13 to choose

restaurants with better

policies on antibiotics.