We are very proud of our beef supply chain. Beef is the most iconic item on our menu and our core beef sandwich patties are made from 100% high quality beef, which is sourced from EU approved abattoirs that must also comply with the additional quality, safety and welfare standards required by McDonald’s.
Over the course of many years, we have implemented controls and practices along the entire length of our value chains across Europe. Due to this, none of our products were affected by the horse meat scandal. These practices include long-term relationships with suppliers, detailed product and raw material specifications, full traceability as part of our Supplier Quality Management System and short, direct, thoroughly audited supply chains. This is a philosophy that we use in all our supply chains, not just for beef.
However, we want go further. More than a decade ago, we introduced our McDonald’s Agricultural Assurance Program, which has been helping drive higher standards in our supply chain, with regard to sustainable sourcing. There has been no widely agreed definition of what sustainable beef looks like. However, through the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platform, the industry has come together to establish Principles for Sustainable Beef Farming that we can all support.
The next step is to develop farming practices to help farmers meet those principles and to continue aligning our work with the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef.
We will also continue to leverage our position within the wider beef industry to help drive our common journey to sustainability, developing an assured, trusted and sustainable beef supply chain for McDonald’s and for our customers.
Keith Kenny is senior director, supply chain, McDonald’s Europe. This is a personal blog and views expressed are his own.
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