NEW YORK – With more consumers wanting to know where their food is coming from, fast-food chains such as McDonald's are making changes to their food sourcing.

In a March 4 press release, McDonald’s announced new menu sourcing initiatives, including only sourcing chicken raised without antibiotics that are important to human medicine. The QSR’s U.S. restaurants will also offer customers milk jugs of low-fat white milk and fat-free chocolate milk from cows that are not treated with rbST, an artificial growth hormone.

Chick-fil-A announced in 2014 that it would work with suppliers over the next several years to remove all antibiotics (including ionophores, commonly used to prevent intestinal illnesses in animals) from its chicken supply. “This means we don’t allow antibiotics to be added to the feed, water or any commercial vaccines used by our suppliers,” notes the company’s website. To date, Chick-fil-A has converted more than 20% of its supply to poultry raised without antibiotics.

"Our customers want food that they feel great about eating – all the way from the farm to the restaurant – and these moves take a step toward better delivering on those expectations," said McDonald's U.S President Mike Andres.

Following McDonald’s announcement, Reuters reports that KFC, the world's largest chain of fried chicken restaurants, is facing pressure from consumer and environmental groups “to change how its poultry are raised.”

The news source added that KFC, owned by Kentucky-based Yum Brands, has “no publicly stated policy on antibiotic use” in the meat it purchases. Instead, the company told Reuters that the chicken it serves in its U.S. restaurants “is USDA high quality, and free of antibiotics.” Steven Roach, food safety program director at Food Animal Concerns Trust in Chicago, clarified that KFC’s statement refers to “a lack of residue in the meat served at its restaurants and not the practice of delivering antibiotics to chickens before they are slaughtered.”

Bob Goldin of Technomic told Reuters that "the train has left the station" in reference to the influence McDonald's decision will have on U.S. chicken production standards.

McDonald's also announced that the company is a founding member of the newly formed U.S. Roundtable on Sustainable Beef, calling its support “a critical step in support of the company's global commitment and effort to source verified sustainable beef.”