Consumer groups press Yum’s KFC to tighten antibiotic rules

By Lisa Baertlein LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Consumer groups will deliver a petition from more than 350,000 people to the KFC restaurant chain on Wednesday, calling on the Yum Brands Inc unit to stop the routine use of antibiotics by the companies that supply its chicken. Several fast-food restaurants, which have been under fire for selling unhealthy meals, are assuming the role of public health change agent by forcing their respective meat suppliers to adopt new practices aimed at keeping vital antibiotics working. KFC has said that by 2017, antibiotics important to human medicine will only be used to maintain chicken health and only under the supervision and prescription of a licensed veterinarian.