The Biggest Chicken Seller in the U.S. Is Eliminating Antibiotics
Tyson Foods will stop using human antibiotics in its broiler chickens by 2017
Tyson Foods products sit in the freezer section of a supermarket in Princeton, Ill., on Jan. 30, 2013.
Photographer: Daniel Acker/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Tyson Foods will no longer use human antibiotics in chickens. The Arkansas-based company, the nation's largest seller of chicken, is announcing today that it plans to eliminate the use of medically important antibiotics in its flocks by September 2017.
Antibiotics defined as “medically important” are those taken by people. The drugs are also used by livestock producers to treat and prevent disease in crowded pens and were extensively used for many years to promote growth in farm animals.