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发帖数: 29576 | 1 Meat Companies Go Antibiotics-Free as More Consumers Demand It
http://online.wsj.com/articles/meat-companies-go-antibiotics-fr
OWENSBORO, Ky.—The Food and Drug Administration, responding to concerns
about antibiotic-resistant bacteria, asked drug and meat companies late last
year to end the practice of feeding antibiotics to livestock to speed
growth.
Brandon Glenn had already gone further. Not at the behest of the government,
but of a meat company for which he raises chickens.
“I was pretty apprehensive,” the Kentucky farmer says of instructions
three years ago from Perdue Farms Inc. to halt almost all antibiotic use. “
How are we going to keep these chickens alive without giving them their
medication? But Perdue said: ‘This is what the market is going to.’ ”
Perdue is among a growing array of food producers moving to limit the
routine use of antibiotics in livestock production—less in response to
regulatory action than to consumer pressure.
Competitor Tyson Foods Inc. launched a brand of chicken without antibiotics
last year and also markets antibiotic-free beef. Retailers where people now
can buy meat raised without antibiotics include Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and BJ
’s Wholesale Club Inc. Fast-food chain Chick-fil-A Inc. says it is phasing
out all chicken raised with antibiotics over five years.
Antibiotic-free beef, pork and chicken account for only around 5% of meat
sold in the U.S., by industry estimates, but its share is growing quickly.
Sales of such chicken at U.S. retailers rose 34% by value last year,
according to market-research firm IRI.
Prices at the supermarket for these products are much higher, rewarding
producers for higher production costs, but also imposing an affordability
limit on the market. |
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