Thursday, June 21, 2007

Tyson and antibiotics


A big story from yesterday is that Tyson Foods is going to start selling antibiotic free chicken.

Wow!

I basically think that Tyson is evil, but this is a very promising development - assuming I've put two and two together correctly here.

Aren't chickens (and cows and pigs etc) given antibiotics in order to help them survive the unbelievably wretched living conditions which are forced upon them by Tyson? So if Tyson is saying they're giving up antibiotics, doesn't that mean also that they're going to raise/house the chickens in a healthy environment which the chickens will be able to survive on their own?

I used the Google News Search to check a few different stories about Tyson, but nothing seems to mention that they're going to raise the chickens in better conditions.

Here's some industry spin for you as well, from CNN's version of the story:

(Tyson chief executive) Bond said that while the company uses antibiotics at the farm level "for therapeutic reasons" only, it believes the move to drug-free poultry is part of its strategy to "offer meaningful benefits to the masses."
Therapeutic Reasons - that's a laugh, i.e. so that they can survive the ammonia used to negate the stench of the chickencrap laced (up till now anyway) with drugs? And survive the close quarters, and the debeaking etc etc?

The National Chicken Council, a trade group, responded to Tyson's announcement by contending that all chicken marketed today is "antibiotic-free in the sense that no antibiotic residues are present in the meat, due to the withdrawal periods (following usage and before slaughter) and other precautions required by the government and observed" by poultry producers.

Hey, you can trust the National Chicken Council that nothing like this is happening.
And this guy is just a liar:
A USDA Inspector named Ronnie Sarratt was quoted in one report saying, "I've had birds that had yellow pus visibly coming out of their insides, and I was told to save the breast meat off them and even save the second joint of the wing. You might get those breasts today at a store in a package of breast fillets. And you might get the other in a pack of buffalo wings."

3 comments:

Smudgemo said...

Quote: "You might get those breasts today at a store in a package of breast fillets. And you might get the other in a pack of buffalo wings."

I can guarantee that I won't.

Marathon Maritza said...

"So if Tyson is saying they're giving up antibiotics, doesn't that mean also that they're going to raise/house the chickens in a healthy environment which the chickens will be able to survive on their own?"

I'd like to think so, but I HIGHLY doubt it. :(

Eleni Binge said...

hi Tuco,

makes me wonder what they are going to do instead of antibiotics ... probably give them something similar that isn't technically an antibiotic? I assume it still won't be "organic." Either way, life for the birds, still bad I'm sure.
I'm making a documentary about mainstream views on the role of (farm) animals within our society. It's interesting how many of the folks I interviewed (the non-activists) main concerns were to do with chemicals in their meat/dairy supply, though many also wanted them treated humanely.
We'll have to keep our eye on Tyson.....thanks for writing about this.
--eleni