USDA: Remove Tysons ‘no antibiotics’ label

According to the USDA the company spent million of
dollars on advertising and promotion campaigns to boost the sales of its
products. Meanwhile, Tyson Foods said that it stands by the truthfulness of its
product labels and remain fully committed to its “Raised without Antibiotics”
chicken program. The company added that it expects no disruption in service to
its customers.

Ionophores
Tyson had previously received
approval from the USDA in May to label its products as raised without
antibiotics. However, Tyson’s poultry-feed formulations still contain
ionophores, which are antibiotics according to the FSIS policy. Tyson said in a
statement, “We do not believe ionophores are antibiotics. FDA is the agency
Congress has authorized to regulate animal drugs and it specifically excludes
ionophores from the list of animal drugs deemed as antibiotics.”

Tyson
noted that ionophores are in a different class than antibiotics and are
recognized and approved by the federal government as a safe feed ingredient. The
company added that ionophores are permitted in chicken feed as a preventive
measure against coccidiosis, an intestinal illness. Tyson stated that ionophores
remain in the intestinal tract of the animal and do not carry over into meat
consumed by humans.

Public comment period
Tyson reportedly has
45 days to remove the labels from its products or stop using ionophores. In
addition, the USDA gave the company the option of petitioning it to initiate a
public-comment period on whether ionophores could be used in meat and poultry
products labelled as “raised without antibiotics”. Tyson was also reportedly
given an option of submitting a new label application with new
documentation.

Related websites:
Tyson Foods   
USDA 

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