Chick-fil-A is changing its cooking promise starting this spring and it will have a major impact on the brand’s famous chicken.
Like Tyson Foods, Chick-fil-A will end its promise to provide antibiotic-free chicken at all of the chain’s locations.
According to a statement from Chick-fil-A on March 25, the restaurant will soon begin to shift from No Antibiotics Ever to No Antibiotics Important to Human Medicine.
“NAE means that no antibiotics of any kind were used in raising the animal,” read the statement.
‘NAIHM restricts the use of antibiotics that are important to human medicine and often used to treat humans, and only allows the use of animal antibiotics if the animal and the people around it would become ill.’
Chick-fil-A’s chicken will no longer contain artificial preservatives, steroids and added hormones.
Chick-fil-A released a statement on March 25 saying they would transition from No Antibiotics Ever to No Antibiotics Important to Human Medicine in the spring of 2024.
Chick-fil-A’s chicken will no longer contain artificial preservatives, steroids and added hormones
No antibiotics important to human medicine limits the use of antibiotics important to human medicine used to treat humans
Chick-fil-A first made the pledge not to use antibiotics in 2014.
However, according to NBCchicken farmers were forced to resort to antibiotics after an outbreak of bird flu began in poultry supplies in 2022.
Chick-fil-A’s change comes less than a year after Tyson Foods announced the company would end its no-antibiotics pledge.
“We base our decisions on sound science and an evolving understanding of the best practices that impact our customers, consumers and the animals in our care,” a Tyson Foods spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal in 2023.
According to Chick-fil-A’s statement, the fast-food chain is committed to quality and their “commitment to the high-quality chicken” that consumers expect from them stems from three things.
Chicken farmers began turning to antibiotics after an outbreak of bird flu in poultry supplies starting in 2022
Chick-fil-A is very selective when it comes to the chicken served at all restaurant locations.
“Quality has always been our approach to food,” their statement said.
‘And because chicken is central to our menu, we only serve real, white breast meat with no added fillers, artificial preservatives or steroids.’
The restaurant chain sources their chicken from American farms and follows suit Animal welfare standards.
In addition to being hatched, raised and harvested in the U.S., the chickens must be in climate-controlled barns and raised with proper nutrition.
The restaurant chain continues to consult with members of the Animal Wellbeing Council who provide feedback on Chick-fil-A’s policies and practices.
“With their input, we continually evaluate our approach to animal welfare to ensure it is consistent with or exceeds industry standards,” officials said in the restaurant chain’s statement.
While it is unclear whether bird flu has affected any of Chick-fil-A’s suppliers, it has resulted in the slaughter of 82 million birds in 47 states since 2022.
The restaurant chain sources its chickens from American farms and follows animal welfare standards approved by experts
Bird flu, also known as bird flu, has affected more than 7 million chickens in about 40 commercial flocks and 24 backyard flocks.
California was particularly hard hit by the outbreak, even forcing one San Francisco company to kill 550,000 laying hens.
“We have wild birds that are full of viruses,” said researcher Rodrigo Gallardo of the University of California-Davis The guard earlier this year.
“And if you expose your birds to these wild birds, they can become infected and sick.”
Fortunately, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention have identified only four human infections in the US.
The CDC also confirmed that the current risk of bird flu spreading to the general public is low, meaning Chick-fil-A customers are unlikely to be affected by the bird flu outbreak.