Questions and Answers about Antibiotics in Chicken Production

*A veterinarian consults with a farmer.*

Raising healthy chickens is important to us, and we recognize that consumers want to better understand how their food is raised.

Chicken is America’s favorite protein for a reason. For decades, the chicken industry has evolved its products to meet ever-changing consumer needs and preferences. Protecting our animals’ health and well-being is where we start. Without healthy chickens our members would not be in business.

The use of antibiotics is one of many important tools in the treatment of human and animal disease. Preserving their effectiveness, both in humans and animals, is a responsibility we take seriously and work continuously with animal health companies, our farmers and our veterinarians to determine when an antibiotic is really needed.

We believe that providing a sustainable food supply will depend on our offering choices and a balanced approach to animal well-being. The amazing variety of chicken products today allows people to choose products that take into account many factors, including taste preference, personal values, affordability and chickens raised without antibiotics. As of April 2019, more than 50% of U.S. broiler chicken production is raised without any antibiotics.

We understand that consumers have questions and concerns about how and why antibiotics are used to treat and prevent disease in livestock and poultry. We hope this information will help to answer those questions and address some of those concerns.

How is the chicken industry responding to updated FDA guidelines for antibiotic treatment of poultry and livestock?

All along, chicken producers have adhered to strict government regulations regarding antibiotic use, using antibiotics responsibly.

Chicken producers have proactively and voluntarily taken steps toward finding alternative ways to control disease while reducing antibiotic use; phasing out those that most critical to human medicine. Two classes of antibiotics that FDA deems critically important to human medicine, especially for treating foodborne illness in humans—flouroquinolones and cephalosporins—have already been phased-out of chicken production for a number of years.

The industry also supports FDA’s proposed Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) that ensures that all antibiotics administered to food producing animals are only done so under the supervision and prescription of licensed veterinarians. In fully cooperating with FDA on these measures, both chicken producers and animal health companies continue to preserve the value and effectiveness of antibiotics used to treat human illness and decrease the resistance of foodborne pathogens.

The bottom line is that we’re all interested in doing the right thing. Not only are we all consumers, but chicken producers also have a vested interest in protecting the effectiveness of antibiotics, for the welfare of their animals. To do any differently would not make sense from a moral or business standpoint.

What is the common industry practice when it comes to administering antibiotics to chickens?

One of the most important and potentially devastating diseases we have in poultry is called coccidiosis, caused by coccidia – tiny little microscopic protozoa – that upset the normal gut environment of an animal and causes malabsorption of important nutrients and can result in unnecessary suffering or even death. Coccidia are common in puppies, kittens, young chickens and other animals – whether they’re raised outdoors, indoors, are a farm animal or a house pet.