For the past few months, as public perception of the sandwich-selling restaurants has seen it turn into one of the unhealthiest chains out there, a number of organizations and even public health agencies have asked that Subway's antibiotics be phased out, as it's one of the few major chains that still hadn't announced it would until now - but it'll still be a while until this new policy finds its way to restaurants.
After months of controversy, the chain has finally announced they'll be taking out Subway antibiotics from their menus, phasing out chicken from here to 2016, turkey in the next two or three years ... though antibiotic-free pork and beef will still be present in their venues for about six more years.
In a recent public release posted in the company's official website, the sandwich makers said they had "elevated" their Subway antibiotics policies, planning to transition to meat that hasn't been treated with antibiotics "important to human medicine."
In the past, other restaurants that have taken steps towards an antibiotic-free industry have included Chipotle Mexican Grill and even fast food giant McDonald's, as there have been growing concern over the practice of growing farm animals with antibiotics, as consuming them could lead to the advent of "superbugs" as well as resistance, which has led to the new Subway antibiotics policy.
According to Time Magazine, the new Subway antibiotics statement will initially apply for their U.S. branch, with all 27K-thousand restaurants in the country serving antibiotic-chicken by March 2016, after the company recently went got a harsh "F" rating for lack of transparency and continuous use of antibiotics in their protein products.
AV Club reports that antibiotics haven't been the only source of headaches for the Connecticut-based chain, as the past few months have also seen another PR nightmare for Subway: they were met with a class-action suit regarding wrong advertising, as many said their "footlongs" and six inch subs were actually smaller.
Could Subway's antibiotics-free policy be a new beginning for the often-maligned chain?
