LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Sanderson Farms Inc shareholder proposal requesting the third-largest U.S. poultry producer phase out the use of medically important antibiotics for growth promotion and disease prevention failed to pass on Thursday, the company said.

Sanderson is the only large U.S. chicken producer that has not made a commitment to limit its use of those drugs, as public health experts raise the alarm about the link between farm use of antibiotics and the rise of human infections from drug-resistant bacteria called superbugs.

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