Chick fil a has backtracked on a decade-long commitment to serve antibiotic-free chicken, causing quite the stir online! So let’s dive into this a bit.
Many poultry producers, especially large, commercial producers, use antibiotics across the board in their flocks either to prevent disease, or to treat a chicken and nearby chickens who have contracted some disease requiring antibiotics.
- The first question we need to ask is why did Chick-Fil-A change course?
- Why do these chickens even need antibiotics?
- What is the effect on humans consuming meat treated with antibiotics?
- What can we do about this?
Why did Chick-Fil-A change course?
Due to Avian Flu, many poultry flocks were ordered to be destroyed, causing a shortage of chicken.
Now, I have additional thoughts on the spread of Avian Flu from inspectors who travelled from farm to farm, potentially (and unintentionally) spreading the disease thselves, as well as thoughts on the ordering of the complete destruction of flocks due to a disease that is only a risk to those who handle dead, infected birds. But I won’t go into that here, except to share this 1 tidbit from the CDC’s own website and Avian Flu infographic:
“No human bird flu infections have been reported from proper handling of poultry meat or from eating properly cooked poultry or poultry products.”
Meaning–I, as a poultry producer, could be at risk of contracting Avian Flu. But you, as the consumer, are not.
So, Chick-Fil-A faces a dilemma–change course on antibiotic-free meat, or continue to serve antibiotic-free meat that is in short supply.
Staying on their continued course means having less product, which means having to raise prices during an already-tough economic decline, thereby reducing sales, thereby losing money, and therefore having to possibly close stores, lay off employees, and risk further deepening this recession.
By changing course, CFA will certainly lose some customers. That’s how a free market system works (though we barely have that anymore, but I digress!!). Realistically, though, right or wrong, most of CFA’s customers will continue to eat there, because meat with antibiotics in it isn’t a big enough deal to most fast-food customers.
Why do these chickens need antibiotics in the first place?
Now we’re getting into deeper waters here.
Some poultry producers–just like some cattle producers, goat producers, sheep producers, and hog producers–use antibiotics regularly in their flocks/herds to prevent disease.
This would be like your whole family taking an antibiotic at the start of each school semester, just in case your kid brings something home. Or you giving your entire family a round of antibiotics because your kid has the sniffles.
The medical research supports the fact that routine use of antibiotics used “just in case”, and the overuse of antibiotics in mild cases where the disease just needs to run its course, as in a common cold, lead to superbugs, like MRSA. Front-and-center on the CDC’s web page about antibiotics says this:
“Antibiotics can save lives, but any time antibiotics are used, they can cause side effects and contribute to the development of antibiotic resistance. In U.S. doctors’ offices and emergency departments, at least 28% of antibiotic courses prescribed each year are unnecessary, which makes improving antibiotic prescribing and use a national priority.”
Regular or frequent use of antibiotics in animals operates the same way. Superbugs can–and do–exist in animals as well, leading to weakened genetics, and animals that get sick easily and frequently.
Additionally, you already know that antibiotics don’t work on viruses; they only work on bacterial infections.
So what causes bacterial infections to spread in poultry? The same thing that causes pathogens to spread in humans–contact in close proximity.
The chickens that are bred and raised for meat–primarily Cornish Cross (that’ll be another blog post)–are bred for very quick growth, not for long-term hardiness. Cornish Cross are prone to leg disorders, breathing issues, and heart problems, due to their rapid growth. Their immune systems aren’t particularly strong. This leads to many producers to use a blanket-approach to antibiotic use, administering it to ALL chickens, to prevent issues before they begin.
Also due to these chickens’ rapid growth, they just don’t move around very much. Most conventional poultry producers raise chickens in large indoor structures. The chickens have an average of around 1 square foot of space per chicken–just a tad larger than a sheet of notebook paper–for the entire 5-8 weeks they are alive. Of course, they have clean food and water. And of course their housing is cleaned regularly. But y’all. Chickens poop. Like, a LOT. And the bigger they get, the more they eat. The more they eat, the more they poop. They have nowhere to go to get away from all of that poop.
In concentrated confinement facilities, the chickens spend their whole day breathing in some quantity of ammonia and dust from bedding and fecal matter. This is unpreventable. Bacterial illnesses spread through feces and through airborne particles from flapping their wings, shaking their heads, and scratching in their dusty bedding.. And when you have a concentrated environment of any kind (think schools and hospitals!), pathogens are able to spread like wildfire.
In pastured systems, chickens typically have 2+ square feet per bird at a time (it doesn’t sound like much, but again, they don’t move much), are on grass (which absorbs the ammonia, and reduces or eliminates dust), and they are moved to fresh grass daily. Over the course of their life, they’ll have access to 40+ square feet per chicken, due to daily (or more) moves, once they have enough mature feathers to handle weather conditions. They are in the fresh air, and have access to both shade and sunshine–and we all know that the sun is the best sanitizer. As their moveable pens are moved to new grass, the sun kills pathogens on the prior patch of grass, while nitrogen from their poop fertilizes the ground. The odds of pathogens having an opportunity to grow and spread are greatly reduced, and nearly eliminated, thus reducing or eliminating the need for antibiotics.
What is the effect on humans eating meat containing antibiotics?
The first part of this question that needs to be explored is, what is an antibiotic anyway?
Anti, of course, means against. Biotic pertains to life.
So when we’re talking about antibiotics, we’re talking about substances that kill life, specifically, bacteria, since antibiotics cannot kill viruses. That doesn’t seem so bad, right?
Except that certain bacteria are known to not only be harmless, or beneficial, but essential for proper bodily functioning.
Killing off ALL bacteria leads to the destruction off not just the bad bacteria, but of beneficial bacteria as well.
When a pasture is overgrazed, weeds and less desirable plant species are the first to grow back. Nature doesn’t like to be “naked”, and works quickly to cover herself.
A pasture that is properly grazed, with the right animal species at the right times, leads to healthy pasture. Weeds and undesirable species are are supressed, and the grasses and forbs that are desired are able to flourish and grow.
I imagine our bodies operate the same way. There is more and more evidence coming out continuously about the importance of bacterial populations in our guts. Bacteria is added back into yogurt after pasteurization, while prebiotics, probiotics, and various “microbiome”/”gut healing” products are flooding the market. Research continues to show links between our gut flora and the rapid and rampant rise in everything from autoimmune disorders to depression and anxiety to cancer.
So then, to answer the above question, the FDA has this to say (current as of 3/5/24, according to their website):
“When antimicrobials are used in animals, it can contribute to the emergence of antimicrobial resistance in bacteria that can be transferred to people.”
Again, front-and-center on the CDC’s web page about antibiotics states that at least 28% of antibiotic prescriptions are unnecessary, and can lead to antibiotic resistance.
So, if we’re eating food containing substances that kill bacteria, and we’re overusing substances that kill bacteria, and we’re using antibacterial (literally in the name–”against” “bacteria”) soaps, cleaners, detergents, hand-sanitizers, and everything else, we’re killing ALL bacteria.
Which, according to both the CDC and the FDA, can lead to antibiotic resistance. In people.
Read this study from the CDC back in 2001
And this article from Smithsonian Magazine
And this article from Scientific American
…for starters…
Obviously antibiotics have their place. For human use, strep throat, UTIs, heck–sepsis–obviously these require treatment! But using them across the board is hazardous to our health.
Across the board use in animals is hazardous to the health and vigor of animals as well as humans.
Targeted use in animals is sometimes necessary–but perhaps we shouldn’t eat those animals. Just sayin’…
So what can be done about this?
Well, on a personal level, you can always boycott Chick-Fil-A. In a free market system, people can make their voices heard through the power of the purse. Getting on social media and bashing a company decision, or even sharing a blog post with one person’s opinion, doesn’t bring about change. Words can be hollow and empty. We’ve all seen the number of “armchair warriors” out there on the “interwebs”. But taking your business elsewhere–or not–can speak volumes. If enough people take their business elsewhere, CFA could be forced to re-evaluate their position. We’ve seen the effects of boycotts on Target, Anhueser-Busch/Budweiser, and even Disney. Boycotts can and do work.
That being said, I’m going to reiterate my prior statement that I don’t believe most CFA customers particularly care about antibiotics in their CFA nuggets.
To be honest, I don’t care, either. I happen to love CFA, and will continue to eat their food. Why? Because it is a very rare treat.
My opinion is that if a person is eating CFA frequently enough to be concerned about whether or not antibiotics in his/her fast food could cause antibiotic resistance in his/her body, that person should probably re-evaluate their fast food consumption.
On a company-wide scale, CFA does have options.
CFA could resort to buying meat that includes antibiotics–which is their current plan. This will probably keep costs at a stable level, and maintain the status quo.
CFA could remain committed to buying antibiotic-free meat. This would likely raise costs. But to what degree?
CFA already sources their meat food from farms across the United States. But, are these decisions made at a corporate level or a local(ish) level? And how many farms are involved in this partnership? I have zero idea, to be honest.
Across the Nation, there are many, many producers throughout the Country that have the ability to meet local need, or the ability to scale up to meet local need. Polyface Farms in Virginia, and Windy Meadows Farm right here in Texas are 2 such locations that already work with local restaurants (chains, as well as “mom-and-pop” places to provide pasture-raised, antibiotic-free meat.
CFA states on their website that their food is raised and grown on farms throughout the US, providing for thousands of jobs in local communities. But what if sourcing food closer to CFA locations could not only keep costs the same, but also provide MORE employment opportunity and community support? Certainly, sourcing food as close to a given community is more sustainable for the local(ish) economies–both from an economic and an environmental standpoint. Is there a possibility that the reduction in shipping expenses alone could reduce the gap between locally-raised pasture-raised meat and conventionally-raised meat shipped longer distances? Maybe. Or maybe not.
CFA states they remain committed to sourcing their ingredients from farms that raise food in a humane manner. This is great. And ultimately, all of these decision–corporate as well as personal–are hard decisions to make. Sourcing ethically-raised meat is hard. Keeping costs down and protecting the workforce is hard. Eating out is hard. Packing food for long days/trips is hard. Watching your budget is hard. Credit card payments are hard. Resorting to a drive-thru is hard. Remaining committed to clean food is hard. When it’s all said and done, we all have choices and priorities. And we all have to choose our hard.
Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/25/business/chick-fil-a-antibiotic-chicken.html
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/pdf/avianflu/avian-flu-transmission.pdf
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7510518
https://gut.bmj.com/content/69/10/1867
https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/safety-health/antimicrobial-resistance
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/7/7/01-7705_article
https://www.chick-fil-a.com/our-standards/where-our-food-comes-from
Boots and Roots 
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