In a Friday news release, Perdue Farms announced that by sometime in May, all of its value-added chicken products will be sold antibiotic-free. It called itself the first major brand to do so. The transition also applies to its food-service turkey items.
According to the company, two-thirds of Perdue chickens and over half of its turkeys are being raised antibiotic-free as part of its “No Antibiotics Ever†campaign. The company began the process of weaning its poultry off antibiotics more than a decade ago.
“This is something that’s happening now, not years in the future,†Andy Urban, Perdue’s senior vice president of sales, said in a statement. “These are in production now. Consumers will start to see the change in a few weeks, and we’ll complete the transition in May.â€
Meanwhile, Tyson Foods introduced a new product label last week consisting of pork products sourced from animals that are raised not only without antibiotics, but also without hormones and outside gestation crates, according to TakePart’s Willy Blackmore.
Tyson, which is the nation’s largest poultry provider, had previously announced a timeline of September 2017 for eliminating use of human antibiotics in its chickens.