Chick-Fil-A and Panera Bread pledged to protect the health of customers by not using chicken raised on antibiotics. The pledges lasted as long as it took for them to run out of chickens.
The fast-food chain Chick-Fil-A backtracked from its decade-old "no antibiotics ever" pledge intended to help prevent human antibiotic resistance linked to the rampant use of the drugs in livestock production. Instead, the company said in a statement that it will embrace a standard known as "no antibiotics important to human medicine," often abbreviated as NAIHM, which entails the avoidance of medications commonly used to treat people and limits the use of animal antibiotics to cases of actual animal illness. Livestock producers have long used antibiotics to boost rapid weight gain in animals such as chickens, pigs, cows and sheep, improving the profitability of their businesses.
Chick-Fil-A "will begin shifting to the new policy in the spring of 2024," which is to say, now. Keep an eye on your favorite eateries hood hygiene and health signs, the little canaries that they are. Blame supply chain woes and The Hound.
Previously: Medical expert says you've been taking antibiotics the wrong way