Friends Fiduciary Signs Global Investor Statement On Antibiotic Stewardship

Friends Fiduciary joined 68 other investors with assets under management totaling over $3 trillion in signing a global investor statement supporting the phasing out of routine, non-therapeutic antibiotics in livestock, seafood, and poultry supply chains.

The use of antibiotics in livestock, seafood, and poultry supply chains is commonplace. Antibiotics are proactively overused as part of protocol to “prevent the spread of disease among animals housed in unsanitary conditions and in close confinement.” This overuse has been identified by the World Health Organization as a contributor to global antimicrobial resistance, which poses a great risk for human health as once-treatable diseases become resistant to antibiotics.

Our open letter to companies urged companies (from restaurants to meat producers) to consider the reputational, regulatory, and legal risks of continued overuse of antibiotics, and to implement a comprehensive antibiotics stewardship policy across their livestock, seafood, and poultry supply chains that includes a timeline for phasing out routine, non-therapeutic use.

Friends Fiduciary sees antibiotic overuse in food supply chains as posing great risk to both human health and potentially to the bottom line.

Read the statement here.