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After Tyson Foods said last summer that it would reintroduce some antibiotics to its chicken supply, Purdue Farms is now the only one of the big four processors committed to “zero antibiotics” production. And the poultry giant has no plans to change course.
“We worked hard to be successful and raise chickens the right way.” Bruce Stewart-Brown, Perdue's senior vice president of technology services and innovation, told Agriculture Dive. “And that has given us a very proud stance on animal welfare and animal care.”
Perdue remains a prominent presence in the chicken industry, which is poised to backtrack on the issue. Chicken antibiotic sales declined in 2022, but that could change after Tyson, the largest U.S. producer, backed off part of its antibiotic-free commitment last year. The move has already sent ripples through the food supply chain, with Chick-fil-A backing off its commitment to only serve antibiotic-free chicken in March due to supply issues.
The agricultural industry has traditionally relied on antibiotics as a cheap way to promote growth and control disease in livestock that are sometimes kept in crowded and unsanitary conditions. However, it has been found that antibiotics are being overused in animals. Increased risk of antimicrobial resistance This phenomenon also occurs in humans, making the drugs they take less effective.
“It would be foolish to waste a cornerstone of modern medicine to compensate for poor animal husbandry for slightly cheaper chicken.” Andre Delatre, chief operating officer of the environmental and consumer advocacy group Public Interest Research Group, told Agriculture Dive in an email. “Perdue deserves credit for sticking to NAE commitments while others backed off.”
Stopping antibiotic production is a costly and sometimes difficult task. Stewart-Brown said: To prevent potential contamination, farmers must constantly ensure that their flocks are in a clean environment. Perdue began its journey toward antibiotic-free production in 2002, more than a decade before competitors such as Tyson and Pilgrim's Pride announced commitments to reduce drug use.
At the time, Perdue was responding to consumer animal welfare complaints and growing concerns that meat producers were indiscriminately adding antibiotics to animal feed to keep animals alive, despite crowded and often unsanitary conditions. Perdue phased out drugs important to human medicine over a 12-year period, first in animal feed in 2007 and then in hatcheries in 2014.
“We went through the process the right way to really think about all aspects of raising chickens,” Stewart-Brown said.
In 2016, the company went further and said it would stop using animal-only antibiotics, including ionophores, which are commonly used to control coccidiosis, a common parasitic intestinal disease in poultry. Instead of antibiotics, Perdue uses natural supplements like oregano and thyme to promote gut health in his chickens.
When Perdue began eliminating antibiotics from his production process, not all farmers were on board. Some growers left because of the extra steps needed to ensure the operation was “very clean,” Stewart-Brown said.
“It changed the farmers’ perspective on how hard their job was,” Stewart-Brown said. “Some of them were frustrated and decided to raise their chickens with other companies. We thought maybe that was a good idea.”
But the shift to antibiotic-free production has also attracted new growers who are more aligned with Perdue’s goals. Perdue now uses antibiotics only when its chickens are sick, which happens about 5% of the time each year. Chickens treated with antibiotics are removed from the antibiotic-free program and sold through other channels.
The switch to no antibiotics did not have a significant impact on the spread of disease within Perdue's flock, and the percentage of chickens receiving medication tended to decline over the years. It also brought environmental benefits by preventing antibiotics from entering and contaminating groundwater.
Because eliminating the use of drugs in animal production has many environmental, animal welfare, and public health benefits, Perdue continues to pursue a pledge to completely ban the use of antibiotics.
“Any cleaning is not just about not using antibiotics. It’s about better health for animals, humans and the environment,” Stewart-Brown said. “We can’t back down because there are all kinds of good things that come from it.”
