NEW YORK (AP) - Wal-Mart's push to get its suppliers to give farm animals fewer antibiotics and more room to roam is expected to have a big impact on the food industry, experts say.
Though the steps are voluntary, Wal-Mart, which sells more food than any other store, has a history of using its retail muscle to change the way products are made and sold across the retail industry.
Wal-Mart told the Associated Press it's asking meat producers, eggs suppliers and others to use antibiotics only for disease prevention or treatment, not to fatten their animals, a common industry practice.
The guidelines also aim to get suppliers to stop using pig gestation crates and other housing that doesn't give animals enough space. They're also being asked to avoid painful procedures like de-horning or castration without proper painkillers.
Other major companies, including McDonald's Corp., Nestle and Starbucks Corp., have already pledged to reduce or eliminate the use of gestation crates for pregnant sows and otherwise improve animal treatment. However, activists hailed Wal-Mart's steps and said its guidelines would be one of the most sweeping and could become the blueprint for the food industry.
Concerns are growing that antibiotic overuse is leading germs to develop resistance to the drugs, making diseases more difficult to treat.
Shoppers are also driving changes. They want to know more about where their food comes from and are choosing foods they see as more healthy or natural.
Wal-Mart said its own research showed 77 percent of its shoppers said they will increase their trust and 66 percent will increase their likelihood to shop at a retailer that improves the treatment of livestock.
Activists have reported animal abuse at farms supplying Wal-Mart and other major companies, launched petition campaigns and staged protests at its stores.
Kathleen McLaughlin, senior vice president of Wal-Mart's sustainability division, said Wal-Mart wants suppliers to produce annual reports on antibiotic use and animal welfare and post them on their own websites. It's also pressuring suppliers to report animal abuse to authorities and take disciplinary action.
Animal activists groups praised the steps but want more.
"This is a historic and landmark day for the protection of farmed animals in America," said Nathan Runkle, president of Mercy for Animals, an animal rights group that has pressed Wal-Mart for change. "We urge Wal-Mart to add greater teeth to this announcement by making the new guidelines a requirement rather than a mere recommendation and to set aggressive deadlines."
Still, Wal-Mart's size - it accounts for 25 percent of the U.S. food business - gives it outsized influence on its suppliers' practices.
When Wal-Mart asked its suppliers to reduce packaging about a decade ago, it spurred innovations. Procter & Gamble introduced tubes of Crest toothpaste that could be stood upright on shelves without boxes.
"We think what's needed is a fresh look at how we can look at producing food. This is an industrywide change. It won't happen overnight," Wal-Mart's McLaughlin said. "It's about transparency."
Wal-Mart said it has adopted the "five freedoms" outlined by the World Organization for Animal Health to guide its approach to animal welfare. They include freedom from pain and injury and freedom to express normal behavior.
Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States, called that "game-changing progress and signals to agribusiness that the era of confining farm animals is ending."
The guidelines apply to suppliers of both Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores.