A critical study reveals UK supermarkets are inadequately addressing antibiotic misuse in animal farming.
- Despite new UK regulations, supermarkets fail to ensure responsible antibiotic use in farming.
- The study ranks supermarkets based on antibiotic policies, with none fully transparent about usage.
- M&S and Morrisons lead in policy strength, banning critical antibiotics like colistin.
- Supermarkets are urged to improve animal husbandry to reduce dependency on antibiotics.
Recent research highlights that UK supermarkets are not taking sufficient action to ensure their suppliers use antibiotics responsibly in agriculture. This situation prevails even as new regulations have been introduced in the UK this year, aimed at limiting antibiotic use in farming following Britain’s departure from EU rules. The legislation mandates that antibiotics should not be utilized as a substitute for inadequate animal care practices or poor hygiene standards.
The Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics conducted an assessment ranking supermarkets based on several criteria: the existence of targets for reducing antibiotic usage, the implementation of policies to use antibiotics only when absolutely necessary, types of produce covered by these policies, and monitoring of antibiotic use within their supply chains. Despite these measures, none of the ten supermarkets surveyed, including major names such as Aldi, Asda, Co-op, Iceland, Lidl, M&S, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and Waitrose, have fully disclosed data on antibiotic usage by each farm supplier, as most policies only cover their own-label products.
Among the supermarkets analyzed, M&S emerged as the most positively evaluated, having achieved 10 green ticks (indicative of good practice), two amber, and no red indications (which denote poor practice). M&S, alongside Morrisons, distinguished themselves by completely prohibiting the use of colistin—an antibiotic that the World Health Organization recommends should be reserved as a last resort for human treatment.
Waitrose and Tesco ranked second, each earning six green ticks, five amber, and one red for not publishing antibiotic-usage data per farm system. An Iceland representative contested the study’s findings, stating that the retailer shares its policies directly with suppliers and refrains from public dissemination. Furthermore, Iceland’s policy limits the use of critically important antibiotics, including colistin, adhering to both EU and UK regulations.
Cóilín Nunan, the policy and science manager at the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics, emphasized the legal obligation to avoid using antibiotics to support farming methods that exacerbate animal illnesses. He advocated for supermarkets to swiftly take robust actions aimed at enhancing animal husbandry and welfare to prevent antibiotic misuse.
The research underscores an urgent call for UK supermarkets to align with regulations and enforce responsible antibiotic practices in agriculture.
