Investors are urging food companies to decrease the use of antibiotics in their food supply chains, as campaigners look to tackle the rise of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
According to The Financial Times, around 70% of antibiotics are consumed by animals to prevent disease, as companies that produce or buy large amounts of meat are becoming a focus for campaigners.
The move reflects campaigners’ growing determination to confront an issue increasingly seen as a threat to global health – even rivalling the climate crisis.
AMR has been associated with almost 5 million deaths a year globally and has cost the world $100 trillion in global economic losses, according to the World Health Organisation.
In response, an investor network focused on the risks around intensive livestock rearing, named the Fairr initiative, was launched last year with the backing of about 370 investors from around the world, with $71 trillion in combined assets.
The initiative spotlights AMR use on 12 huge North American fast-food restaurants, including McDonald’s, Yum Brands, owners of KFC and Pizza Hut and Restaurant Brands International, owners of Burger King.
McDonald’s said it was working to cut the use of antibiotics in its supply chain, including not permitting routine use of medically important antibiotics in livestock rearing.
Meanwhile, Restaurant Brands International added that it took “the issue of responsible, sustainable sourcing seriously” and was making good progress.
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Dame Sally Davies, the UK government’s special envoy on antimicrobial resistance, told the FT: “Politicians and policy can do a lot but investors are very powerful.”
Sophie Deleuze, lead ESG analyst at Candriam, a €139bn asset manager, said when analysing companies involved in livestock production, it paid attention to the “policy and stance on the reduction of the antibiotics use”.
Deleuze also scrutinised the extent to which a company encouraged or supported its suppliers to use antibiotics in a more sustainable way and is committed to finding alternatives in order to “actively combat the development of AMR”.
Earlier this month, animal activists were claiming that farms supplying Co-op are leaving chickens in a “horrendous state”, based on footage from hidden cameras.
It comes as supermarkets have been called on to support UK farmers by adding ‘Buy British’ sections to their online stores.
