New research indicates that UK supermarkets are not adequately ensuring responsible antibiotic use by suppliers.
- Despite new UK regulations, supermarkets are failing to meet standards on monitoring antibiotic use in farming.
- The Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics assessed supermarkets, revealing a lack of transparency in antibiotic use reporting.
- M&S leads in practice by banning colistin and scoring highest in the assessment.
- Action is urged from supermarkets to improve animal husbandry and antibiotic practices.
A recent study has brought to light concerns over the insufficient actions by UK supermarkets to ensure that their suppliers use antibiotics responsibly. This comes in the wake of new regulations in the United Kingdom aimed at limiting antibiotic use in farming, post-Brexit. The legislation mandates that antibiotics should not be used to make up for poor animal husbandry or hygiene.
According to the assessment conducted by the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics, supermarkets were ranked based on several criteria, including setting targets to reduce antibiotic use and establishing policies to ensure antibiotics are used only when necessary. Additionally, the coverage of these policies over different products and the monitoring of antibiotic use across the supply chain were crucial factors in the evaluation.
Disappointingly, none of the ten major supermarkets examined—Aldi, Asda, Co-op, Iceland, Lidl, M&S, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and Waitrose—published comprehensive data on the use of antibiotics by each farm supplier. Predominantly, their policies extend only to own-label products, leaving a gap in transparency and full accountability.
Marks & Spencer stood out positively in the study, achieving ten green ticks out of twelve possible for good practices; they, along with Morrisons, have also notably instituted a full ban on colistin, which the World Health Organization advises should be reserved as a last-resort antibiotic for humans. In comparison, Waitrose and Tesco shared the second spot in rankings, albeit without publishing specific farm-system antibiotic usage data.
Iceland contested the findings, stating that it communicates its antibiotic policies directly to suppliers and adheres to both EU and UK regulations. The frozen food chain claims it limits usage of highly critical antibiotics such as colistin.
Cóilín Nunan from the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics emphasised the illegality of using antibiotics to prop up failing farming methods, urging supermarkets to enforce stronger animal welfare and husbandry measures to prevent such misuse.
Supermarkets must urgently advance their practices to ensure antibiotics are used responsibly, aligning with legal and ethical standards.
