Tyson Foods Removes “No Antibiotics Ever” Logo From Foods As They Cave

(RightWing.org) – If you’re worried about the quality of the food you eat, it might be time to cut Tyson Foods products from your shopping cart. America’s largest poultry processor has quietly backed away from its “no antibiotics” policy as inflation remains high and customers look for cheaper food. It’s still legal in the US to use antibiotics as a growth promoter in livestock, but the practice has been controversial for decades.

In 2017, Tyson Foods promised to stop routinely giving animals antibiotics to make them grow faster and added “no antibiotics ever” to its marketing tagline. However, on July 2, the company admitted that it’s now reversing that decision and removing the wording from its chicken products. Because the cost of living crisis has forced shoppers to look for cheaper food, Tyson has decided to restart dosing chickens with a class of antibiotics called ionophores to prevent disease outbreaks and make the birds grow faster.

The FDA has been trying to stop US livestock producers from routine use of antibiotics for decades. Although giving the drugs speeds up growth, it also promotes the development of resistant bacteria. Because bacteria are constantly exposed to low doses of antibiotics, the least tolerant ones quickly die off, and more resistant strains become dominant.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that livestock should only be given antibiotics when they are sick. Some antibiotics that are highly important for human medicine have already been banned for livestock use, but there’s still a risk of bacteria evolving to be more resistant.

The use of antibiotics as animal growth promoters is illegal in the UK and is heavily restricted in the European Union, South Korea, and many other countries. Unfortunately, this decision by Tyson Foods means the US is now going backward on the issue. Cheaper chicken will be welcomed by hard-pressed shoppers as the Biden administration’s economic policies keep inflation high, but in the long term, the health costs could be devastating.