These Nuns Are Petitioning McDonald's to Remove Antibiotics From Meat

A group of nuns is fighting McDonald’s to change your Happy Meal.

The Congregation of Benedictine Sisters of Boene, Texas is asking the fast food chain to stop using what it says are dangerous antibiotics in poultry served in restaurants around the world, Reuters reported. The nuns are arguing that the use of these antibiotics on farms—which prevents illness in animals—can cause “superbug” infections in humans, making their bodies resistant to certain antibiotics.

Such infections kill at least 23,000 Americans each year, and McDonald’s has already adopted the policy in chicken used in U.S. restaurants. The nuns also asking that the chain set a timeline for switching to pork and beef that’s made without these antibiotics.

McDonald's appears to be headed in a new, healthier direction after listening to consumer demands to remove artificial ingredients from its food.

The sisters—who are part of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, which is also targeting Sanderson Farms and Yum Brands in similar campaigns—hope to have shareholders vote on their proposal at the corporation’s 2017 annual meeting.

McDonald’s says it’s talking to key experts, some of whom are advisors to to the World Health Organization, to see where it can make changes in its supply chain.

(TIME)