Upscale Food Company Says Antibiotics Passe

Posted: 03-Dec-2003; Updated: 16-May-2007

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Bon Appetit now purchases only chicken produced without the routine use of medically important antibiotics.

Say the phrase "food service corporation" and most people conjure up dreary cafeterias serving overcooked green beans and hunks of "mystery meat" soused in gravy. But Bon Appetit, a major U.S. food service company that began in 1987 as a San Francisco catering outfit, aims to make eating in corporate and college dining halls more of a high-end restaurant experience, pledging to use "food that is fresh, whole and prepared in a way that is healthy and nutritious" and "minimally processed." 

Reducing antibiotic use

Affirming its commitment to social responsibility, Bon Appetit has worked with Environmental Defense to develop a groundbreaking purchasing policy, unveiled in December 2003, to reduce the use of antibiotics in food animal production. This policy is the fruit of its collaboration with our Corporate Partnerships and Health teams.

In 2004, Bon Appetit began purchasing only chicken produced without the routine use of medically important antibiotics. (Read Bon Appetit's  purchasing policy.) Since then, the upscale food company has expanded its antibiotics policy to include turkey and hamburger. The company has also added a purchasing preference for other types of meat, dairy and seafood products produced with reduced amounts of antibiotics. The company's clients are a diverse group located in 22 states.

Bon Appetit's policy came on the heels of McDonald's announcement of a similar policy, also the result of working with our team of experts. Building on the framework of the huge global restaurant chain, Bon Appetit's policy is more comprehensive, broadly restricting routine uses of medically important antibiotics in the chickens it buys.

The problem with antibiotics

Animal producers frequently include antibiotics in animal feed or water to promote slightly faster growth or to compensate for crowded, stressful and often unsanitary conditions on modern industrial-scale farms. Bon Appetit's policy discourages these routine "non-therapeutic" uses and encourages meat suppliers to administer antibiotics only when they are clearly needed to treat sick animals or animals in immediate danger of being sick. ("Non-therapeutic" is defined as any use of an antibiotic as a feed or water additive for an animal in the absence of any clinical sign of disease in the animal for growth promotion, feed efficiency, weight gain, routine disease prevention or other routine purpose. Find out more about antibiotic resistance.)

"A current estimate is that an astonishing 70% of all antibiotics and related drugs in this country are fed to chickens, cows and pigs," said Dr. Rebecca Goldburg, senior scientist, Environmental Defense. "Policies like McDonald's and Bon Appetit's show that reducing antibiotic use is both feasible and affordable, and they point the way toward sensible national policies to end inappropriate antibiotic use in animal agriculture."

Working to preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics

Bon Appetit's policy, which mirrors bipartisan legislation introduced in both houses of Congress in 2003, states that the company will only purchase chicken produced without non-therapeutic antibiotics and will implement a purchase preference for other animal meats produced without such antibiotics. Treatment of sick animals and non-routine disease prevention are explicitly excluded from the policy.

"By working together, Environmental Defense and Bon Appetit plan to leverage the company's purchasing power to help preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics for humans," said Gwen Ruta, program director, Environmental Defense. "This announcement, coming shortly after a similar announcement from McDonald's reinforces the feasibility and affordability of responsible antibiotic practices.  Environmental Defense calls on other major purchasers to continue this trend by adopting similar policies."

Listen to Audio Clips

• Gwen Ruta on the hazards posed by the misuse of antibiotics - Listen to MP3 (1:03)
• Dr. Rebecca Goldburg explains antibiotic resistance - Listen to MP3 (1:02) 
• Gwen Ruta discusses how Environmental Defense is combatting antibiotic resistance - Listen to MP3 (1:01)