New York - A plan by McDonald’s to phase out chicken raised with certain kinds of antibiotics at its 14 000 US restaurants will put additional pressure on an already-stressed supply chain.
Antibiotic-free chicken currently accounts for a tiny portion of total US supplies, and an increasing desire on the part of consumers for more "natural" products has meant that demand sometimes exceeds supply.
Available product has been so tight that when six of the largest US school districts tried to make the switch to antibiotic-free poultry last year, chicken sellers such as Tyson Foods Inc and Pilgrim's Pride said they could not change their production systems quickly enough to meet the demand.