Complain about a product or service

Feds Tell Tyson to Yank 'No Antibiotics' Labels

Medication in feed doesn't affect humans, company claims

By Truman Lewis
ConsumerAffairs.com

November 19, 2007

Food Safety • Two Companies Pull Meat, Poultry Products Over Health Concerns • Food Safety Group Presses Senate For Action • New Report Recommends Enhanced Food Tracing Guidelines • FDA Issues New Code For Regulating Food Industry • At Least 2 Deaths Reported in Massive E.Coli Ground Beef Recall • Food Toxin Linked To Liver Cancer • Senate Urged To Pass Food Safety Modernization Act • Consumers Have Little Trust That Food They Buy is Safe and Healthy • Consumers Union Opposes USDA Proposal On Salad Safety • New Food Registry Enables Quick Reporting of Dangerous Products • Nothing Simple about Food Dating, Expiration Dates or 'Use-By' Dates • Feds Announce New Food Safety Strategies • House Passes Food Safety Bill --- • More ...

Tyson Foods, the world's largest meat processor, has spent tens of millions of dollars this year advertising that its chickens are "raised without antibiotics."

But, like Kmart's lead-laden "lead-free" jewelry, Tyson's chicken products will have to change their labels.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) says it made a mistake back in May when it approved the Tyson labeling. The decision is a big blow to Tyson, which has staked its brand's reputation on the no-antibiotics claim.

The controversy revolves around medications added to poultry feed to keep chickens from getting intestinal infections that can cause weight loss and death in poultry.

The medication -- ionophores -- is not technically an antibiotic, Tyson said, insisting it's really an antimicrobial.

But in a letter to Tyson, USDA said its longstanding policy is that "ionophores are antibiotics," The Wall Street Journal reported.

Tyson claims the USDA has known all along that it was using ionophores but senior government officials said they only learned of it recently.

The USDA has given Tyson 45 days to change its labels but Tyson says it will be submitting a new label application. It wants its modified label to explain that ionophores can't cause antibiotic resistance in humans.

That's because ionophores are fully metabolized by the chickens before they are slaughtered and wrapped in plastic, the company said.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

Share		Follow us on Twitter.