Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Monday, Jul 01, 2002
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Monday, Jul 01, 2002 |
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Foods & Food Processing Corporate - Standards & Benchmarks Ex-Beatle strikes jarring note for Big Mac P.T. Jyothi Datta
NEW DELHI, June 30 THE Big Mac is now facing flak from ex-Beatle, Sir Paul McCartney, who "took time out'' from his honeymoon to write to McDonald's top 100 shareholders urging them to pressure the fast-food chain to extend its "US farmed animal welfare standards to the company's 29,000 restaurants worldwide.'' On behalf of the Boston-based "socially-responsible'' investment firm, Trillium Asset Management and the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Sir Paul points out that "...abuse is abuse. Whether it goes on in Sussex or San Salvador, Toronto or Tijuana...the public does not want to support injustice anywhere...good practices in one country must be mirrored by good practices everywhere.'' PETA had trained its guns on McDonald's in 1999, when it launched a year-long campaign, which ended with the food-company accepting upgraded standards for the care and slaughter of animals killed in the US restaurants, according to a PETA communique. "Burger King, Wendy's and Safeway have already surpassed Mc Donald's animal welfare record, pledging to internationalise standards,'' the release said. Sir Paul, in his letter, points out that the Big Mac has "very different standards (and often no standards), country-by-country, for its suppliers. "In the US, McDonald's requires audit of all cattle, pig and chicken slaughterhouses, has chicken handling standards and bans forced molting (starving hens to shock their bodies into another laying cycle). Yet, just one country north of the US, in Canada, McDonalds has not yet phased in cage space requirement for hens, hasn't banned starving hens to force another laying cycle and is only auditing cattle slaughter. The company's Canadian animal welfare statement does not indicate plans to do any more than this at any point in the future,'' the letter states. Indian track record: PETA India's chief functionary, Ms Anuradha Sawhney, told Business Line that PETA had sent a letter to McDonald's in India too, asking them to follow standards for animal welfare on par with those worldwide. ``McDonalds has no standards in India and we wish that they would adopt some,'' she said in an e-mailed response. ``They have standards for US, for Canada, and for UK, but none for India. We want them to adopt standards (US standards), hire independent auditors, come up with a plan for severing ties with suppliers that fail to announce audits in a row and pledge ``transparency'' -- or keep the public apprised of developments. So far, they have done nothing. They have some pretty words that they call ''global principles'', but are backed up by exactly nothing,'' she said. Attempts by Business Line to contact McDonald's India chief, Mr Vikram Bakshi, drew a nought, as the latest development took place over the week-end and the company's management was not available.
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