McDonald's is expanding its antibiotic chicken policy and taking it to locations around the globe.
Starting in 2018, the fast-food company will phase out chicken that contains certain antibiotics. The World Health Organization has deemed these as the "Highest Priority Critically Important Antimicrobials" to human medicine.
Basically, the antibiotics on the WHO list are ones that, if overused, can make it harder for humans to fight off illness.
When animals are continually fed antibiotics, bacteria can build up a resistance and make them less effective. That resistance can be passed on to the humans who eat the animals.
McDonald's says it will phase out the use in tiers and be done in every McDonald's restaurant worldwide by 2027.
The company says it also plans to implement similar rules for its other meats — like beef and pork — in the future.
