MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

US consumers increasingly demanding antibiotic-free meat and poultry

Consumers Union “Meat without drugs” campaign presented 500.000 signatures

Pushing its ‘Meat Without Drugs’ campaign, the US Consumers Union recently delivered more than 500,000 signatures to Trader Joe’s in Manhattan, New York.

According Amanda Radke writing for BEEF Daily societal shifts are changing the way to do business and in agriculture this is seen through new regulations that impact the way livestock are managed.

Consumer demands pressure ranchers, and while their influence is huge in Washington, D.C., they also vote with their wallets, choosing products that align with their personal views.

Take, for example, Chipotle, the fast-food burrito chain that champions itself as all-natural, though it's not 100%. Or Subway, another fast-food chain that has joined a growing list of restaurants that has promised to phase out the use of gestation crates in their supply chain.

Also making this promise to their customers is McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Costco, Kroger, Safeway, Kraft (Oscar Mayer), Heinz, Campbell Soup, Denny’s, Cracker Barrel, Carl’s Jr., Hardee’s, Sonic, Baja Fresh, Kmart, Compass Group, Aramark, Sysco and Sodexo.

When a Texas mom wrote on her blog about “pink slime,” she had enough signatures to petition that lean finely textured beef be pulled from her children’s school lunch program.

The latest movement is by the Consumers Union (CU), which is pushing for meat from animals that haven’t been administered antibiotics. The campaign is called “Meat Without Drugs,” and pushes Trader Joe’s, a popular grocery store chain, to stop selling meat from animals raised with the use of antibiotics.

According to Supermarket News, “A report on antibiotics and shopper attitudes about their use in livestock was published in June. CU sent secret shoppers to purchase meat and poultry in 126 supermarkets in 23 states, including items from the top 13 chains in the country.

Retailers included not only Trader Joe’s but Giant, Hannaford, Shaw’s, Stop & Shop, Sam’s Club, Food 4 Less, Food Lion, and Save-A-Lot”.

“The report noted that noted 86% of consumers polled want the choice of purchasing antibiotic-free meat and poultry, and more than 60% said they would be willing to pay up to 5¢/lb. for the option.”

Of course, it's one thing for consumers to say they'd pay more a particular feature in food while being surveyed, but that generally isn't borne out in actual behaviour.

What's more, the existence of antibiotic-resistant organisms is often erroneously blamed on livestock production, so it’s a knee-jerk reaction for many to want to buy antibiotic-free meat. However, these concerns could be negated with a few facts.

By explaining production practices, we can eliminate some of the consumer anxiety surrounding what we do in US livestock production.

With a more informed knowledge of those who are in animal agriculture, they might not fall victim to some of the scare tactics used by activists and political groups.