McDonald's is going sustainable. McDonald’s USA announced today (Jan. 25) it would become the first national restaurant chain to adopt the Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) blue ecolabel on its fish packaging in restaurants nationwide. The MSC label does not mean that the fish is organic, there is no official FDA organic certification for seafood in the United States. The commitment does means that all the fish sold at McDonald's will be sourced in the wild and will comply with MSC fisheries standards for over fishing.
As one of the largest single buyers of fish in the US, McDonald’s scale will help assure that growing seafood demands are balanced with MSC’s responsible sourcing practices to maintain the health and sustainability of fish stocks for the future. Sustainable fish sourcing is part of McDonald’s broader commitment to sustainable sourcing and 100 percent of all fish sold in its US restaurants has been certified sustainable.
McDonald's launched a campaign to spotlight its farmers and ranchers for beef, potatoes, lettuce and tomatoes, but this is the first promise for 100% sustainability for a single product. The company also plans to reduce sodium, fats, sugars and calories in all its products by 2020.
“McDonald’s collaboration with the Marine Stewardship Council is a critical part of our company’s journey to advance positive environmental and economic practices in our supply chain,” said Dan Gorsky, senior vice president of U.S. supply chain and sustainability. “We’re extremely proud of the fact that this decision ensures our customers will continue to enjoy the same great taste and high quality of our fish with the additional assurance that the fish they are buying can be traced back to a fishery that meets MSC’s strict sustainability standard.”
McDonald’s, which uses MSC certified wild-caught Alaska Pollock for its Filet-O-Fish sandwich, will begin displaying the MSC ecolabel on product packaging, in-restaurant communications and external marketing beginning in February 2013 – coinciding with the launch of Fish McBites, McDonald’s newest fish menu item, which also uses wild-caught, MSC-certified Alaska Pollock.
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