Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) announced today that, by the end of next year, all chicken purchased by KFC U.S. will be raised without antibiotics important to human medicine. This announcement marks the first time a major national quick service restaurant chain in the United States has extended an antibiotics commitment beyond boneless chicken to its chicken-on-the-bone menu items.
KFC, a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc., is the second largest U.S. chicken chain by sales after privately held Chick-fil-A. KFC, based in Louisivlle, has over 20,000 KFC outlets in more than 125 countries and territories around the world. However, the new antibiotic policy applies only to KFC in the United States and its 4,200 restaurants supplied by some 2,000 domestic chicken farms, said Kevin Hockman, president and chief concept officer for KFC U.S.
“We’re constantly working to meet the changing preferences of our customers, while ensuring we deliver on the value they expect from KFC. Offering chicken raised without medically important antibiotics is the next step in that journey,” said Hochman.
“Eliminating medically important antibiotics from the chicken we serve in our U.S. restaurants, while keeping the health and well-being of the flocks in mind, was important in our decision to make this commitment,” said Vijay Sukumar, chief food innovation officer for KFC U.S. “To extend our commitment beyond our boneless menu items to all of our chicken required detailed and thoughtful planning over the past year, including utilizing the USDA’s Process Verified program to ensure our suppliers can meet our requirements. We’re proud to make a commitment this expansive and believe this change will aid in shifting the rest of the industry,” Sukumar said.
Today’s announcement is the latest step in KFC’s U.S. turnaround, which focused on returning to its roots by simplifying operations in its restaurants; investing more than 100,000 hours to re-train its team members; bringing the Colonel back in its advertising, and remodeling more than 3,000 restaurants over a three-year period. These efforts have contributed to delivering ten straight quarters of same store sales growth and bringing millions of customers back into the brand, KFC said
The KFC U.S. antibiotics commitment is also part of parent company Yum! Brands’ continuous improvement in sustainable sourcing and food production, including its global position on Good Antimicrobial Stewardship.
More information about these changes and additional ingredient work are available at kfc.com/responsibility.
