What McDonald's New Stance on Antibiotics Really Means

McDonald's grabbed headlines last week by announcing that in the next two years, it will stop serving chicken treated with some antibiotics. It joins such rivals as Chick-Fil-A, Chipotle Mexican Grill, and Panera Bread. McDonald's new chief executive, Steve Easterbrook, is trying the ban, among other initiatives, to persuade consumers that Mickey D’s food isn’t cooked up in a lab using robo-chickens and extracts.

Here's the thing: None of the chicken you currently eat has detectable rates of antibiotics in it. By the time it arrives on your plate—actually, by the time it arrives at your grocery store, or your farmer's market, or your fast-food restaurant—it has no antibiotics in it. By the time chickens (or pigs or cattle) arrive at the slaughterhouse door, they're clear of antibiotics. That's per Food and Drug Administration regulations, which require that animals stop receiving the drugs in their water or feed well before slaughter.