Organization: Kroger Co.

Year: 2015

Whereas: Whereas: Antibiotic resistance has become a public health crisis. 'Superbugs' - bacteria immune or resistant to one or more antibiotics - infect over 2 million people in the U.S. and kill over 23,000 annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As resistance increases, medications used to treat human infections lose their effectiveness, leading the World Health Organization to warn of 'a post-antibiotic era.' An important cause of antibiotic resistant bacteria is the overuse of antibiotics in food-animal production, for the routine, non-therapeutic purposes of promoting faster growth or preventing (instead of treating) illness. In the U.S., more than 70% of medically important antibiotics are sold for use on food-animals. Calls to restrict or ban the routine use of medically important antibiotics for food-animals have been endorsed by the American Medical Association, American Public Health Association, and other leading health organizations: Eating food contaminated with antibiotic resistant bacteria is one way in which superbugs can be transmitted from a farm to human population. Government testing of raw supermarket meat detected 'superbug' versions of salmonella, E. coli, or other bacteria in 81% of ground turkey, 55% of ground beef, and 39% of chicken sampled. An outbreak of antibiotic-resistant Salmonella from chicken last year resulted in more than 600 known illnesses. Several Kroger private brand chicken products were recalled by Foster Farms as part of this outbreak. A 2012 Consumer Reports survey concluded that the majority of consumers surveyed were extremely or very concerned about the use of antibiotics in animal feed and would spend more for meat produced without these drugs. Companies including Whole Foods, Panera Bread, Chipotle, and Chik-fil-A have policies against purchasing meat produced with antibiotics, heightening the risks to companies not acting on this issue. Perdue Foods announced that it has phased out routine antibiotic use in the production of its chicken meat, demonstrating that meat can be produced on a large scale without overusing antibiotics. Kroger is one of the largest supermarket chains in the nation, with perishable food including meat and deli items accounting for around 21% of the company's revenue in 2013. Consequently, food quality and safety trends should be of top priority to the company. Kroger faces reputational risk and liability concerns if it sells meat containing antibiotic resistant bacteria. Resolved: Shareholders request that the Board undertake and publish a study of policy options that could reduce or eliminate routine antibiotic use in the production of its private label brand meats.

Resolved: Resolved: Shareholders request that the Board undertake and publish a study of policy options that could reduce or eliminate routine antibiotic use in the production of its private label brand meats.

Supporting Statement:Supporting Statement: Proponents suggest that the Board explore policy options such as the following: adopt a time-bound plan to phase out purchases of meat produced with routine antibiotic use; establish a new procurement policy that gives preference to suppliers that meet these standards; public declaration of such preferences. 'Routine antibiotic use' means using antibiotics, on food animals, that belong to the same classes of drugs administered to humans, for the non-therapeutic purposes of growth promotion or disease prevention.'