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Agriculture and Food
"When the planes still swoop down and aerial spray a
field in order to kill a predator insect with pesticides, we are in the Dark Ages of
commerce.
~ Paul Hawken
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Largest Poultry Producer to Sell Chickens Raised Without Antibiotics
Statement by Dr. Margaret Mellon, Union of Concerned Scientists
June 19, 2007
Union of Concerned Scientists
http://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/largest-poultry-producer-to-0041.html
WASHINGTON (June 19, 2007) - Tyson Foods, the nation's largest producer of chicken,
announced today that it has begun to produce all of its fresh chicken free of antibiotics and is selling the
chicken in grocery stores under a "Raised Without Antibiotics" label.
Below is a statement by Margaret Mellon, director of the Food and Environment Program at the Union of Concerned
Scientists (UCS):
"By deciding to produce its fresh chicken without antibiotics, Tyson is taking an important step toward
protecting public health from antibiotic-resistant disease, and UCS applauds them for it. An estimated 70
percent of antibiotics and related drugs in the United States are fed to healthy pigs, cows, and chickens
to promote growth and prevent disease, according to UCS research. That's eight times the amount of antibiotics
used to treat diseases in humans. Studies show that the use of antibiotics like tetracycline and erthyromycin
in animal agriculture leads to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that cause human illness and
doctors are increasingly finding that the antibiotics they prescribe are less and less effective.
"With industry juggernaut Tyson proving that poultry can be grown without using antibiotics as a crutch, we're
hopeful that other poultry producers, as well as swine and beef producers, will follow suit. But protecting
public health shouldn't be about crossing our fingers and hoping that companies do the right thing. Congress
should pass the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act, which would prevent all meat and poultry
producers from using antibiotics important to human medicine as routine animal feed additives. Until that happens,
Americans remain vulnerable to drug-resistant bacteria that are often more virulent and much more costly to treat."
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