Subway to cease use of antibiotics in entire meat supply by 2025
Sandwich chain Subway said Tuesday that it will cease using any animal raised with antibiotics in their U.S. meat supply by 2025.
The announcement by the USA's biggest fast food chain in terms of number of outlets comes amid growing concerns from American consumers about drug-resistant bacteria. It also comes as Subway tries to polish its tarnished image in the aftermath of their longtime pitchman Jared Fogle pleading guilty to federal child-sex charges in August.
The sandwich seller, which boasts 27,000 restaurants, says it will begin with a previously announced plan of ending the use of chickens raised with antibiotics next year.
Subway will also start to phase out turkeys that are grown with antibiotics in 2016. The change with its turkey supply will take two to three years to complete, it said.
The company also said it will begin to use beef and pork from animals raised without antibiotics in 2022 and complete the transition by 2025.
“Given the size and scope of the Subway brand, this commitment is the largest of its kind in the restaurant industry," said Dennis Clabby, executive vice president of Subway's independent purchasing cooperative. "We hope that this commitment will encourage other companies in our industry to follow our lead, and that, together, this will drive suppliers to move faster to make these important changes for consumers."
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The move follows several other fast-food chains making public commitments to wind down their reliance on animals raised with antibiotics.
In March, McDonald's announced plans to only source chicken raised without antibiotics important to human medicine. Chick-fil-A said last year it would make a similar change in its chicken supply.
Fast-food chains increasingly face demands to eliminate antibiotic use on animals in its meat supply. Opponents of the use of human antibiotics to treat animals raised for food say the practice has contributed to the rise of "superbug" bacteria that resists powerful medicine and can lead to dangerous epidemics.
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Fast casual chains such as Panera and Chipotle have a longer history of restricting antibiotics. And major suppliers, including Tyson and Perdue, have recently said that they are cutting back on their antibiotics use.
Panera and Chipotle are the only major chains to publicly affirm that the majority of their meat and poultry is produced without routine use of antibiotics, according to a report published last month titled "Chain Reaction: How Top Restaurants Rate on Reducing Antibiotics to their Meat Supply." The report was put together by consumer and environmental groups Friends of the Earth, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Consumers Union, the Food Animal Concerns Trust, Keep Antibiotics Working and the Center for Food Safety.
Subway's announcement comes as the chain, which celebrated its 50th anniversary earlier this year, tries to gain some good publicity as well as lure more consumers back into its stores.
In August, its name was splashed across news headlines after Fogel was charged with traveling for sex with minors and for receiving and distributing child pornography.
Subway has been reeling from rising competition from fast food and fast casual outlets. Sales dipped 3.3% last year to $11.9 billion from $12.3 billion in 2013 — marking the largest loss across the restaurant chain industry, as tracked by research firm Technomic.
The sales drop pushed Subway from the nation's No. 2 largest restaurant as measured by sales to the No. 3 slot, according to Technomic's 2015 Top 500 Chain report published in March. McDonald's holds the top spot and Starbucks is now second.
Follow USA TODAY's Aamer Madhani on Twitter:@AamerISmad.