Tyson Foods was widely hailed in June when it announced that it would produce all of its branded fresh chicken from birds raised without antibiotics. The company, hoping to cash in on consumer demand for more natural products, said it would promote the antibiotic-free birds as part of a $70 million advertising campaign.
But now the Department of Agriculture has told the company that it made a mistake when it had approved a “raised without antibiotics” label.
In a letter dated Nov. 6, it gave the company 45 days to change its label or adjust the feed rations it provides its chicken.
Agriculture officials said they changed their mind when they realized that Tyson’s feeding plan lists animal medications called ionophores. The department said it had long considered ionophores to be antibiotics. “The Tyson labels at issue were thus approved in error,” the letter said.
It was not clear late Monday evening what prompted the department to review its decision, which was reported earlier on the Web site of The Wall Street Journal. Tyson Foods, based in Springdale, Ark., says that it is the world’s largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef and pork. In a statement, Tyson officials said they disagreed with the decision but were submitting modified labels for approval.
“The additional wording states no ingredients have been used that could create antibiotic resistance in humans,” the company said, in a statement.
“Ionophores are recognized and approved by the federal government as a safe feed ingredient. They’re permitted in chicken feed as a preventive measure against coccidiosis, an intestinal illness, and are in a different class than antibiotics.”
The company also said that ionophores were not used in human medicine and did not contribute to the development of antibiotic resistance in humans, a growing problem.
Margaret Mellon, director of the Food and Environment Program for the Union of Concerned Scientists, said she was concerned that the Department of Agriculture’s decision would cause consumer confusion and do nothing to promote human health.
She said the decision was particularly perplexing because of Tyson’s size and the fact that it was upfront with federal officials about its plans for continued use of ionophores. “In the more than 10 years I’ve been in this issue, they’ve never been considered antibiotics,” she said. “I’m baffled by the whole thing.”
In the June announcement, Tyson executives said the antibiotic-free chicken would cost less than $1 a pound more than birds raised on antibiotics. The company said it would convert nearly half of its facilities to the antibiotic-free regimen.
