Today, Oct. 20, Subway announced it would transition to serving antibiotic-free meat across all of its 27,000 U. S. restaurants. The switch to antibiotic-free chicken will begin in March 2016, and will be completed by the end of 2016. In addition, the brand stated that it will introduce turkey raised without antibiotics in 2016, with the transition expected to be completed within two to three years. A full transition to pork and beef raised without antibiotics will occur by 2025.
“Today’s consumer is ever more mindful of what they are eating, and we’ve been making changes to address what they are looking for,” said Dennis Clabby, executive vice president of SUBWAY’s Independent Purchasing Cooperative. “A change like this will take some time, particularly since the supply of beef raised without antibiotics in the U.S. is extremely limited and cattle take significantly longer to raise. But, we are working diligently with our suppliers to make it happen.
“Given the size and scope of the Subway brand, this commitment is the largest of its kind in the restaurant industry,” added Clabby. “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.”
The announcement comes in the midst of a national effort to pressure Subway against purchasing meat raised with routine antibiotics. The campaign has been led by nonprofit consumer advocacy group U.S. PIRG and the National Resources Defense Council. In Georgia, that campaign, which began this summer, has been spearheaded by Georgia PIRG.
“Factory farms use antibiotics as preemptive measures and to fatten them up quicker,” said Georgia PIRG campaign organizer Kent Strickland. "Overusing antibiotics on livestock and poultry contributes to a major public health problem, antibiotic-resistant infections. Overuse is saturating them with so much antibiotics that antibiotic-resistant bacteria is leaking into waterways and getting in the air. We are calling for a ‘treat-as-needed."
Strickland was thrilled with the news of Subway’s elevated policy regarding antibiotic-free protein.
"We're ecstatic that Subway will be living up to the healthy image they've created. They have more restaurants in the U.S. than any other chain, and their announcement will put major market pressure on the meat producers to stop overusing antibiotics.
Georgia PIRG was set to help deliver more than 300,000 petitions to Subway headquarters on Thursday. “It now looks like we'll deliver a giant ‘thank you’ card instead," Strickland said.
Subway is the world's largest submarine sandwich chain with more than 37,000 locations around the world.
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