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Subway: We Want Subs Not Drugs! Stop The Routine Use Of Antibiotics.

Today, I’m launching a major petition and I need your help. 

This issue is deeply personal. A couple of years ago my Dad was infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria and was hospitalized as a result.

Needless to say, it was one of the most stressful and scary times of my life. Thankfully with good medical care, my Dad survived but the antibiotics he was supposed to be given to treat the infection were deemed useless.

As you may know, I’m known for getting the yoga mat chemical – azodicarbonamide – out of Subway’s famous bread last year. Over 100 thousand of us signed this petition (1), and without you Subway would have never made this change.

I thank you so much for making that happen.

But today I’m not talking about yoga mats and shoe rubber.

There’s an even bigger issue that we need to address at Subway.

I have been working with several experts and consumer advocacy groups (2) for the past year on this very important issue, and we now need your voice.

Watch this very important video: 

Sign the petition here

Subway is one of the largest fast food chains in the world and is serving us meat that is raised with antibiotics. This is irresponsible because:

  • Antibiotics are being routinely fed to farm animals – not to treat diseases – but to fatten them up and make them grow bigger on less food (4).
  • Almost all of the antibiotics used in the U.S. are fed to farm animals and the amount continues to rise (5).
  • This misuse of antibiotics is creating superbugs that could threaten the entire human population (6). When animals are constantly fed low levels of antibiotics, they become a breeding ground for antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and it’s spreading to humans (7).
  • We now have bacterial infections that only a few years ago could be cured and are now not responsive to any known antibiotics. Thousands of people are dying every year and experts believe it’s going to get worse (8).

We sent two letters earlier this year (9) to the CEO of Subway asking him to engage with us to discuss opportunities for them to step up as leaders and commit to eliminating these antibiotics from their chicken suppliers, and eventually to eliminate these antibiotics across all supply chains.

Subway has failed to take a stand and hasn’t made a formal commitment.

Other major food companies have publicly committed to stop this practice (10), and it’s time to demand that Subway do the same!

That’s why I’m petitioning Subway to formally prohibit the routine use of antibiotics for growth promotion and disease prevention in the production of meat across all supply chains, including their turkey, chicken, beef, and pork.

Subway: We want #SubsNotDrugs… 

Join me and sign this petition here.

FB_SubwayEatDrugsAntibiotics

Let’s create a safer food system together. Do this for you, your children and the human races.

I’m doing it for my Dad.

Vani Hari 

SubwayBlogPost

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27 responses to “Subway: We Want Subs Not Drugs! Stop The Routine Use Of Antibiotics.

  1. While I appreciate everything that you have done and your personal investment in this fight, why don’t take this same fight to the other fast food restaurants?

    I haven’t eaten at Subway for over twenty years because I know what is in their food. Chains like McDonalds, Wendys, Red Robin, etc. sell a huge amount of beef. Chains such as KFC, Chick-fil-A, Roy Rogers, etc. sell vast amounts of chicken.

    These major chains need to be addressed too. If there was a joint effort within the chains/restaurants, changes would have to take place to the supply lines/vendors.

    Organic needs to be addressed too. What about pesticides, GMOs, “natural flavorings”, etc.? The system is broken. The demand needs to come from the sellers as well as the end consumer. Are you currently pursuing any of these campaigns?

    Because of my own health issues, I have to eat only organic, and no grains, dairy, or sugar at all. It would be nice if I could actually go out and eat once in a while instead of cooking at home all the time, and not have to worry about what I am putting into my body.

    Forcing restaurants of all types to honestly label all ingredients on the menu would be ideal, as well as the source of the food. I think that would force a lot of change because people would stop eating it once they could see for themselves, .

    Thank you for all you do, and I hope that these things are in the pipeline also.

    Renee

    1. I rarely have eaten at any of the above restaurants aside from Wendy’s salads and Chic-Fil-A, but mostly cook at home due to your above concerns. I too worry about anti-biotics in food and the pesticides, GMO’s and natural flavorings. IT’s like, Okay, I don’t want to go through life being paranoid but the more I read, the more scared I get! Cook at home I guess is just the best way.

      But I do like Vani how you are specifically focused on antibiotics in this post. When my kids get sick and the doctor highly recommends antibiotics to “cure” them, I so struggle. Typically, I say no and make them fight the sickness themselves because I don’t want their little bodies (5 and 3) to become immune to antibiotics.

      Right now, I’m being treated for infertility where everytime they “treat” me, they require me to take a low dose antibiotic. Honestly, I just don’t take them and pretend I do. I don’t want to lie to the doctor, but I just think of the risks both ways and just try to do my best for myself and my family.

      Thank you for this post. Maybe Chipotle is still okay?

      1. laura – human bodies do not become immune to antibiotics, rather micro organisms become resistant to antibiotics . You should check the implications of what you are saying , especially if you do not have a background in science .
        The kind of drugs humans become immune to, are drugs like antihistamines. The reason microbes become resistant are the same reason why doctors pause and think before prescribing antibiotics . They do it when it is needed to save the situation. Also, there is a valid, tested and proven reason why they put you on antibiotics during fertility treatment. The reason why you are still on it might be because you aren’t following the regimen.

    2. I fully agree, but as I said too, what about the grocery stores? As like you I have medical issues and I have to eat organic. But we should not have to go broke to be able to eat right!! Take care, Dana

  2. Ms. Hari
    We do support the elimination of sub-therapeutic use of antibiotics and shared those thoughts two months ago with a coalition that you are a member of .

    Back in June we responded to an inquiry from the National Resources Defense Council that we were currently working on the elimination of antibiotic use. You were listed on the letterhead of the inquiry as a member of the coalition. When you wrote to us to ask about our response to the NRDC we replied to you, via email, that we had shared our response with Ms. Brook directly. We appreciated your email response the next day thanking us for the update.

    Below is the letter sent to the NRDC.

    June 24, 2015

    Ms. Brook,
    Thank you for taking the time to write to us about your concern with the overuse of antibiotics in livestock production. Our commitment to serve high quality, affordable food to our customers has always been a cornerstone of the Subway brand.

    We support the elimination of sub -therapeutic use of antibiotics. Elimination will take time and we continue to work with our suppliers to reach that goal.

    1. Thank you so much for responding. We still haven’t heard any response to the specific requests made in the letters. Could you please clarify what Subway’s antibiotics policy is and the timeline to get there? Are you asking your suppliers to remove the routine use of antibiotics in their meat production for chicken, turkey, beef and pork? I will be in touch via email with similar requests for clarification and a meeting to discuss – Thank you kindly, Vani Hari

  3. I read all your posts, sign all your petitions and applaud the work you do. Your track record is certainly impressive!

    I am wondering about the new sandwich chain that has popped up all over southern California, Which Wich? Have you looked into their breads and meats? Just curious…..

    Thanks

  4. I am very greatful for all your doing, but why just subway? We need to go directly to the supermarkets where all families get their meat. We have a choice not to eat at subway but we dont have a affordable choice at the supermarket. I know it is much bigger but I know we can do it! God bless you, sincerely, Dana

    1. Hi Dana,

      Actually there are a few companies who have committed to stop using antibiotics common in human medicine. I know for sure Tyson Foods, Pilgrim’s Pride, and Perdue have stepped up. I’m sure there are others as well. Hopefully you have one of these suppliers in the grocery stores near you.

  5. Thank you for trying to get Subway to change. Their marketing takes on such a ‘psudo-healthy’ bent which really contradicts their lack of transparency. “Eat Fresh” doesn’t mean anything when your ingredients come from factory farms.

  6. Antibiotic resistance is a serious issue but it’s source is not limited to animal agriculture. We can all help in this effort. The WHO suggests the following…

    People can help tackle resistance by:
    * hand washing, and avoiding close contact with sick people to prevent transmission of bacterial infections and viral infections such as influenza or rotavirus, and using condoms to prevent the transmission of sexually-transmitted infections
    *getting vaccinated, and keeping vaccinations up to date;
    *using antimicrobial drugs only when they are prescribed by a certified health professional
    *completing the full treatment course (which in the case of antiviral drugs may require life-long treatment), even if they feel better
    *never sharing antimicrobial drugs with others or using leftover prescriptions.

  7. Vani, you are amazing and I am so happy my friend passed on your information about what you do because she thought it ‘may interest me’…absolutley! Have you done any research on Coscto? To preface, I love Coscto and I firmly believe they have their members interests at heart and they actually listen to their members. I did call their Lacey, WA store inquiring about their cooked whole chickens, which are very popular. I asked a deli manager about their chicken suppliers and how the chickens are raised, fed, and if they use antibiotics and other drugs. He was very polite and honest in telling me at the current time, the chickens are not organic and they do use antibiotics, however, Costco is looking diligently in changing this to happy, healthy, drug free chickens because they know this is what their members demand and deserve. This was a few months ago. Do you or does anyone have any othe information on Costco?

  8. This article by Food Babe only BEGINS to scratch the surface of how terrible & destructive & life-threatening these antibiotics in meat are! It’s not ONLY about antibiotic-resistant superbugs — it’s also about these antibiotics crippling & permanently disabling an entire generation of humans! These antibiotics cause dozens of permanent & irreversible & destructive side effects in the human body, as explained in this article by Dr. Mercola: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/09/25/fluoroquinolone-antibiotics.aspx

  9. The worst part about all this is that subway actually markets itself as healthy.. it totally throws people off. The problem is that there needs to be a much bigger shift than just ingredients being shifted to make subway healthy.

  10. According to this afternoon’s Meatingplace update: “Subway officials said that they plan to switch their chicken supply to meat from animals raised without antibiotics important to human medicine in 2016, with other proteins to follow as supply allows, according to a report in Nation’s Restaurant News.”

  11. Sp what about all of the nitrates that are users in their “meats”. An article on our local news station reported that ingesting meats with nitrates in them three times a week increased the possibility of creating stomach cancer by 50%. If this information is not accurate I stand to be corrected.

  12. I was just wondering how good subways meat was, so I found you on the web .
    After reading I won’t go to Subway again .
    thanks for your research. Appreciate it!
    Kevin

    Breathe slowly, Eat organic!

  13. Why you always pick on Subway?? What about the rest of the brands? Have you done any research on the rest of the food industry?

  14. My father almost died due to a bacterial infection and it’s likely to antibiotics in meats. The doctors told us that they ran out of antibiotics they could try to clear the infection. I don’t know what happened but he is alive. I avoid non organic meats.

  15. I cannot believe some of these posts who act like it is this one person’s responsibility to go after all the fast food chains. She’s done enough and yet continues to soldiers on in the war against the food industries who are slowly killing us with all their poison and greed. She probably went after Subway because they have always advertised that they are the way to go with freshness and weight loss. I for one will NEVER eat another subway again and I am so thankful I stumbled upon her information.

  16. The fact is if the cow gets sick what do you want them to do let it suffer !!!!!! People get the facts right the cow go through more then 7 inspection and even if one little cow gets through that was bad gets called back as quick as they hear it . I am sorry about your relative but look at the cold hard facts

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