According to the Chain Reaction report, meat sold by major American fast food chains contains an unsafe amount of antibiotics.

The 25 largest fast food chains in the United States are getting schooled — not surprisingly, the report card doesn’t look so good.

The meat sold by the nation’s major fast food providers has been analyzed for its antibiotic content. The scorecard exposes the seriousness of an underreported health issue that affects the nation as a whole.

The Report Card

The scorecard shows that only five American fast food chains received a passing grade, while 20 other restaurants failed the test.

Friends of Earth released a “Chain Reaction” report in conjunction with the Natural Resources Defense Council, Consumers Union, Food Animal Concerns Trust, Keep Antibiotics Working, and Center for Food Safety.

The report grades America’s top restaurant chains on their policies and practices regarding antibiotics in their meat and poultry. Researchers gathered data from restaurants in person, through email and snail mail.

The researchers looked at how well these policies were implemented, including the estimated availability of meat produced without routine antibiotics. The grade also takes into account how transparent the restaurant is about its policies, and if the practices were online.

The grades were calculated based on the establishment’s antibiotics use policies, including the strength of the policy and if it applies to all meat products offered. The total number of possible points was 36.

According to the report, 20 of the most popular fast food restaurants failed, which meant the meat they sold contained a lot of antibiotics. The restaurants that received zero points include Wendy’s, Burger King, Dominos, Starbucks, Olive Garden, Papa John’s, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC, Applebee’s, Sonic, Chili’s, Jack in the Box, Arby’s, Dairy Queen, IHOP, Outback and Little Caesars.

Each restaurant had a different response of explanation for their good, or not-so-good, grade.

Dunkin’ Donuts and Dominos both said their food complies with all FDA and USDA laws. Wendy’s and Starbucks are working to address concerns about antibiotic use. Burger King plans to review the findings.

Only two restaurants passed with flying colors. Chipotle and Panera Bread both received an “A” score because their meat isn’t treated with antibiotics.

“While many people are just starting to pay attention to the issue, we have known for a long time that it is the right thing to do, and we are pleased to see others taking even small steps to curb antibiotic use in livestock,” Chipotle said in response to the report.

Panera Bread had a similar reaction, claiming that “More than a decade ago, we started serving chicken raised without antibiotics — ahead of the industry. We’re glad to see that others have followed and proud to have extended our commitment to all of the chicken, ham, bacon, sausage and roasted turkey on our salads and sandwiches.”

Chik-fil-a, coming in with a “B” score, is working to catch up to their 2014 claim of ‘No Antibiotics Ever.’ Representatives say that the switch will take time, and that verification from suppliers is of utmost importance. McDonald’s is also working to eliminate some antibiotics in their meat supply.

Papa Johns, which received an “F,” is spending $100 million a year to eliminate artificial ingredients and other additives. “By the first half of 2016, we will offer antibiotic-free chicken on our pizza,” Papa Johns said in response.

The Meaning Behind The Meat

Consuming meat that contains antibiotic-resistant bacteria will make antibiotics ineffective when they are needed most.
Image: Maximized Living

The meat industry uses antibiotics to prevent animals from getting infections that would develop from poor diet and unsanitary conditions. Using antibiotics as a standard preventative method has yielded resistant bacteria, which is then passed on to humans.

“When livestock producers administer antibiotics routinely to their flocks and herds, bacteria can develop resistance, thrive and even spread to our communities, contributing to the larger problem of antibiotic resistance,” according to the report authors.

This is a bigger problem than we think. At least 2 million Americans contract antibiotic-resistant infections every year, the CDC estimates. These infections will kill about 23,000 people.

“The worsening epidemic of resistance means that antibiotics may not work when we need them most: when our kids contract a staph infection (MRSA), or our parents get a life-threatening pneumonia,” according to the study.

In addition, six hormones are used in the industry to promote faster, larger growth of animals. Although the scorecard doesn’t measure the amount of hormones used in fast food meat, the authors want to caution as using them as a replacement for antibiotics.

The report urges restaurants to “use their considerable purchasing power to make meat and poultry produced without the routine use of antibiotics more readily available to consumers.”

The authors also call upon the Food and Drug Administration to mandate greater transparency on antibiotic use in the meat industry, and create “policies that prohibit use of medically important antibiotics for both growth promotion and disease prevention.”

According to the report, it’s really up to the consumer. Recommendations ranging from diners to restaurants, government officials and farmers are included in the report.

“As more consumers demand better meat options, they will become more widely available,” the authors wrote. “Remember: it’s your money, your health and your future.”

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Danish researchers found that increased antibiotic use may be tied to a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Although most doctors agree that obesity, genetics and inactivity play a role in the development of diabetes, health professionals have yet to discover the true cause.

A new study illustrates that Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the metabolic disease, may be linked to antibiotic use.

According to Danish researchers, antibiotics may negatively influence gut bacteria, which would impact the body’s natural glucose tolerance and management abilities.

The Study

The frequent overprescription of antibiotics could play a role in the widespread issues such as insulin sensitivity and weight gain.
Image: Biotiful Dairy

In 2013 it was estimated that over 382 million people throughout the world had diabetes. About 90 percent of cases are diagnosed as type 2.

The study, a population-based case-control analysis, was published in the  Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. The research was conducted from Jan. 1, 2000 to Dec. 31, 2012. Data was pulled from the Danish National Registry of Patients, the Danish National Prescription Registry and the Danish Person Registry.

In 2012, Danish researchers conducted a correlational study that included 170,504 patients with Type 2 diabetes. The researchers matched these cases with 1,364,008 control subjects without diabetes. Through government databases, researchers analyzed the amount of times the participants used antibiotics for the last 13 years.

The researchers compared the health of patients who didn’t use antibiotics with those who did. Patients who filled two to four prescriptions had a 23 percent higher risk for diabetes, whereas those who filled five or more had a 53 percent higher risk for developing the disease.

The Conclusion

A definite link between antibiotics and diabetes has not yet been confirmed despite a clear correlation in the study. Researchers will continue to learn about the effects of antibiotics on the gut and metabolism.
Image:Raw Story

The research concludes that insulin sensitivity may be caused by how the body reacts to antibiotics. Antibiotics may disrupt the natural flora in the gut, which could influence the metabolization of glucose.

Gut flora is part of a complex community of microorganisms that live in the digestive tract. It is an important part of human health.

“In animal studies, antibiotic treatment has been shown to affect glucose and insulin metabolism,” said the lead author, Dr. Kristian Hallundbaek Mikkelsen of the Center for Diabetes Research at Gentofte Hospital in Copenhagen.

“What we see in animals may be happening in people, and if so, then there are more good reasons to be strict about antibiotic prescription policy,” she said.

Researchers made sure to note that reverse causation could be a potential reason for the correlation between developing diabetes and using antibiotics. Reverse causation posits that people with diabetes or people at high risk of developing diabetes may already be taking more antibiotics than others.

Although reverse causation is a possibility, the increased risk was visible up to 15 years before a diabetes diagnosis. According to the study, the results call for new investigations of the long-term effect of antibiotics on lipid and glucose metabolism and weight gain.

“In particular, we suggest investigation of commonly used narrow-spectrum penicillins because these drugs are frequently prescribed and showed the highest OR for type 2 diabetes risk,” the study said.

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Patients who understood that there may be risks involved in taking unnecessary antibiotics essentially interpreted them to be minimal. But there are real risks associated with taking antibiotics when they will have no affect on the patient’s illness, mainly for secondary infections and allergic reactions.

“More than half of the patients we surveyed already knew that antibiotics don’t work against viruses, but they still agreed with taking antibiotics just in case,” said Dr. Broniatowski, assistant professor in GW’s School of Engineering and Applied Science.

When antibiotics are prescribed for every cold or flu virus, the body is exposed to the antibiotics over and over again, and the bacteria in the body learn how to thrive despite the attack, making the antibiotic ineffective. Should you ever pick up an actual bacterial infection and these bacteria happen to be an antibiotic-resistant strain, you’ll quite possibly have an infection that does not respond to antibiotics, putting your health at serious risk. Dr. Broniatowski’s research uncovered a need for an improved line of communication between doctors, patients and caretakers, and new educational materials that stop focusing on the difference between germs and viruses, and instead shed light on the real dangers of taking unwarranted antibiotics.

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