Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has to reduce the use of antibiotics in chicken farming.

The British Poultry Council, representing 90% of UK chicken meat, reported a reduction in use from 49 mg/kg in 2014 to 10 mg/kg in 2017 (latest data). Their current published ambition is to keep use below 25 mg/kg.

The UK national cross-government 5 Year action plan on antibiotic resistance includes our commitment to work with vets and farmers to keep sector targets under review and define new antibiotic use objectives by 2021.