A collection of financial backers including Aviva Investors, Coller Capital and Strathclyde Pension Fund, which together control in excess of $1tn (£700bn) worth of assets, wrote a letter to a group of chains including Mitchells & Butlers and JD Wetherspoon (JDW) asking them to take immediate action on the "crucially important" issue.
The letter read: "While we agree that antibiotics should be used for the treatment of sick animals, they should not be used to support irresponsible practices such as growth promotion or routine disease prevention of animals kept in closely-confined and unsanitary conditions."
Antibiotics on livestock
M&B's stance:
"The prophylactic use of antibiotics in livestock production is an important issue to Mitchells & Butlers and one that we are reviewing across all species as part of our sourcing policy"
- Source: M&B spokesperson
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recently warned that the use of antibiotics on livestock was increasing the threat of greater human resistance to antibiotics across the world – putting the ability to treat common infections in communities and hospitals at great risk.
A spokesperson for JDW said the use of artificial, growth-promoting substances – including antibiotics – was already prohibited across its livestock supply chains.
Other companies that have received the letter include McDonald's, Domino's Pizza, Wendy's and the Restaurant Group that owns Brunning & Price pubs.
Jeremy Coller, chief information officer at Coller Capital, said: "These large food companies are key ingredients in the portfolios of most of our pensions and savings – thus it is a case of proper risk management to ask them to work out how they will meet this challenge.
"The world is changing, regulation on antibiotic use is [likely] set to tighten and consumer preferences are shifting away from factory-farmed food."
Protect human health
As 'stewards' of the companies mentioned, he added, the investors wanted to protect both human health and shareholder value.
A spokesperson for Mitchells & Butlers, which operates brands including Toby Carvery and Harvester, told the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, which first broke the story: "The prophylactic use of antibiotics in livestock production is an important issue to Mitchells & Butlers and one that we are reviewing across all species as part of our sourcing policy.
"We have been working with our poultry suppliers to define our antibiotic policy and we are continuing to develop this policy, species by species."