麥當勞宣佈停用抗生素雞肉

McDonald’s said on Wednesday that it would begin using chicken from birds that are not raised with antibiotics used to treat humans.

麥當勞(McDonald's)週三宣佈，公司將開始使用在禽類飼養過程中沒有攝入人類抗生素的雞肉。

Because the struggling fast-food chain is one of the largest buyers of chicken in the United States – McDonald’s sells more chicken than beef – the move is likely to have a major impact on the way poultry is raised and the kind of chicken served by restaurants.

由於這家陷入困境的快餐連鎖店是美國最大的雞肉採購商之一——麥當勞出售的雞肉比牛肉多——此舉很可能會對家禽的飼養方式及餐廳提供的雞肉種類產生重大影響。

The shift toward offering chicken that is largely antibiotic-free is to be phased in over two years, the company said. It also announced that later this year, McDonald’s would give customers the choice of low-fat and chocolate milk from cows that have not been treated with the artificial growth hormone, rBST.

該公司表示，將在兩年的時間裏逐步改用基本上不含抗生素的雞肉。聲明中還宣佈，麥當勞將在今年晚些時候，爲顧客提供由未注射人工合成的重組牛生長激素(rBST)的奶牛所產的低脂奶和巧克力奶。

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been increasingly vocal about its concerns about the use of antibiotics in animal husbandry as more and more bacteria and pathogens are showing resistance to such drugs. It estimated in 2013 that at least two million Americans fall sick each year because of antibiotic-resistant infections and at least 23,000 die from them.

隨着越來越多的細菌和病原體對抗生素產生抗藥性，美國疾病控制與預防中心(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)越來越明確地表示對此類藥物在畜牧業的使用感到擔憂。根據該中心在2013年的估算，每年至少有200萬美國人因爲感染耐藥菌而患病，其中至少2.3萬人因此死亡。

The government’s concern has caught the attention of consumers, and food companies and restaurants are increasingly using “antibiotic free” labels as a marketing tool that sometimes allows them to command a higher price.

政府的擔憂引起了消費者的注意，食品公司和餐廳在越來越多地使用“無抗生素”標籤，將其作爲一種營銷手段，有時候還能因此賣個更好的價錢。

“The last time McDonald’s did something like this, five other fast-food companies made similar announcements within six months,” said Steven Roach, food safety program director for Food Animal Concerns, one of the advocacy groups involved in the coalition Keep Antibiotics Working. “I would expect we’re going to see a similar pattern this time around.”

“麥當勞上次採取類似的舉措時，其他五家快餐企業在六個月內發表了類似聲明，”食用動物關懷信託組織(Food Animal Concerns)食品安全項目負責人史蒂文·羅奇(Steven Roach)說。“我期待這次也能看到類似情況發生。”該組織是參與“保持抗生素有效”聯盟(Keep Antibiotics Working)的倡導團體之一。

The National Chicken Council said in a statement that the “vast majority” of antibiotics used for disease prevention in the industry were never given to humans. “Chicken producers have a vested interest in protecting the effectiveness of antibiotics for the welfare of their animals,” the trade group said. “As such, we’ve proactively and voluntarily taken steps toward finding alternative ways to control disease while reducing antibiotic use.”

全美養雞理事會(National Chicken Council)發表聲明稱，業界用於預防疾病的“絕大部分”抗生素都從未用於人體。“爲了動物福利而保護抗生素的有效性，符合雞肉生產商的利益，”該貿易組織表示。“同樣，我們一直在主動而自願地採取措施，尋找在減少抗生素使用的同時控制疾病的替代方法。”

In January, the International Production & Processing Expo, billed as “the world’s largest annual poultry, feed and meat technology exposition,” devoted a panel to antibiotic-free poultry production at which an industry consultant declared that antibiotic-free chicken was no longer a niche business.

今年1月，號稱“世界最大的禽類、飼料及肉製品加工技術年度展覽”的國際生產與加工博覽會(International Production & Processing Expo)專門就不含抗生素的禽類生產問題召開了一次全會。一名業界顧問在會上宣稱，不含抗生素的雞肉不再是一種偏門生意。

“I think in a few years, one-third of chicken and turkey will be antibiotic-free,” Richard Kottmeyer, managing director of Strategic, an agricultural consulting firm, said, according to a report on . “The problem then is the other 66 percent of consumers will be resenting the fact that their chicken isn’t antibiotic-free.”

“我認爲在幾年之內，三分之一的雞肉和火雞肉都將不含抗生素，”根據上的一份報告，農業諮詢機構“戰略”公司(Strategic)的執行董事理查德·科特邁耶(Richard Kottmeyer)說。“那時的問題將是，剩餘66％的消費者將埋怨他們的雞肉仍然含有抗生素。”

Last September, Perdue became the first major United States poultry company to say it was no longer using antibiotics in its hatcheries, one of the last parts of its production process where the drugs were still in use. A month later, Tyson Foods made a similar announcement, although unlike Perdue, Tyson still uses antibiotics for disease prevention.

去年9月，普渡(Perdue)成爲表示不會再在孵化階段使用抗生素的首家美國大型禽肉公司。孵化是其生產過程中仍在使用這種藥物的最後幾個領域之一。一個月後，泰森食品(Tyson Foods)發表了一個類似聲明，儘管與普渡不同，它仍然在利用抗生素預防疾病。

And a year ago, Chick-fil-A, the fast-growing fast-food chicken business, said it was no longer using chicken treated with antibiotics. Panera has used meat raised without antibiotics for more than a decade.

一年前，發展迅速的雞肉快餐公司“福來雞”(Chick-fil-A)宣稱，不再使用含有抗生素的雞肉。Panera麪包坊已經使用不含抗生素的肉類產品長達十多年。

McDonald’s is somewhat late to the game, in part because its size makes it difficult to establish supply chains that can fulfill the demand in its 14,000 United States restaurants. It took the company two years, for example, to establish enough contracts to supply it with cucumbers when it added the vegetable to its menu several years ago.

在這件事上，麥當勞的行動有些遲緩。其中的部分原因在於，它的規模十分龐大，難以迅速建立一個供應鏈來充分滿足它在美國的1.4萬家餐廳的需求。例如，雖然公司幾年前就決定在菜單里加入黃瓜，但花了兩年時間才簽訂了足夠的合約來供應旗下的門店。

The company first announced a policy limiting its chicken suppliers’ use of antibiotics in 2003, but it had done little to update it over the years, Mr. Roach said.

2003年，麥當勞首次宣佈了一項限制其雞肉供應商使用抗生素的政策。但羅奇稱，在接下來的這麼多年裏，公司並未採取多少措施來更新這項政策。

The move coincides with McDonald’s “Your Questions, Our Food” marketing campaign, in which the company answers questions like whether the eggs it uses are freshly cracked and how it cooks its beef patties. The company’s new chief executive, Steve Easterbrook, who took the helm this week, successfully used a similar program to help turn around the McDonald’s business in Britain.

新舉措與麥當勞的營銷活動“你的問題，我們的食物”(Your Questions, Our Food) 同時推出。麥當勞會在這項活動中回答消費者的問題，比如店裏使用的雞蛋是否爲剛打破的，或是他們如何烹製牛肉餅。本週剛上任的麥當勞新任首席執行官史蒂夫·伊斯特布魯克(Steve Easterbrook)曾經利用一個類似項目，成功盤活了麥當勞在英國的業務。

Mr. Easterbrook is meeting this week with McDonald’s franchisees and suppliers to present what he has called the “Turnaround Agenda.” One of the seven “Big Actions” he plans is to “win” with the company’s food by, among other things, improving taste and giving consumers food they can “feel good about” eating, like chicken raised without antibiotics.

本週，伊斯特布魯克將會見麥當勞的加盟商和供應商，展示他口中的“翻身計劃”。他籌劃的“七大行動”之一，就是通過多種手段來以食物“取勝”。這些手段中，包括改善口味，以及爲消費者提供吃起來“感覺良好”的食物，比如飼養過程中未使用抗生素的雞肉。