You Need to Know This If You Eat Tyson Chicken

Tyson Foods, the world's largest meat processor and the second largest chicken producer in the U.S., has admitted that it injects its chickens with antibiotics before they hatch and then labels them as raised without antibiotics.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has told Tyson to stop using the antibiotic-free label, but the company has sued for the right to keep using it.

Poultry farmers regularly treat chickens and other birds with antibiotics. But scientists have become increasingly concerned that the routine use of antibiotics in animal agriculture may accelerate the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

After Tyson began labeling its chicken antibiotic-free, the USDA warned the company that such labels were not truthful, because Tyson regularly treats its birds' feed with bacteria-killing ionophores. Tyson argued that ionophores are antimicrobials rather than antibiotics, and are not used on human patients. Tyson suggested a compromise which was eventually accepted by the USDA -- they would use a label reading "raised without antibiotics that impact antibiotic resistance in humans."

Tyson's competitors: Perdue Farms Inc., Sanderson Farms Inc. and Foster Farms sued, and in May 2008, a federal judge ruled in their favor and told Tyson to stop using the label. Not long after, USDA inspectors discovered that in addition to using ionophores, Tyson was regularly injecting its chicken eggs with gentamicin, an antibiotic that has been used for more than 30 years.

The agency told Tyson that based on the new discovery, it would no longer consider the antibiotic-free label "truthful and accurate." Tyson objected again, claiming that because the antibiotics are injected before the chickens hatched, the birds can truthfully be said to be "raised without antibiotics." Tyson has filed a lawsuit against the USDA, claiming that the agency had improperly changed the definition of "raised without antibiotics" to include the treatment of eggs.

More on www.mercola.com than go to articles

Tyson’s claim may be technically true -- which makes it just about the worst kind of deceptive advertising there is without outright lying. It’s this kind of semantics that can drive even the sanest person wild.

When they say that their chickens are “raised without antibiotics", they are clearly trying to give the impression that their chickens do not contain any kind of antibiotics.

However, the chicken on your plate is anything but antibiotic-free since they’ve injected the eggs with antibiotics, and raised the hatchlings on feed that contains antibiotics.

Sad to say, this is typical behavior when it comes to big business. Whenever a packaged food or a large retailer makes a health claim, your first reaction should be suspicion, not trust.

Other glaring examples of this kind of deceptive marketing tactics include:

Splenda -- They would dearly like you to believe that this artificial sweetener is natural because it is “made from sugar”. But it’s nothing but another half-truth meant to convince you of a falsehood, and the Sugar Association has sued them over this marketing strategy.

7-Up -- Cadbury Schwepps ran an ad campaign that promoted the soda as "100 percent natural" with pictures of cans of 7-Up being picked from fruit trees. The Center for Science in the Public Interest threatened to sue Cadbury Schwepps, calling their ad a “misleading untruth.”

Omega-3 Eggs -- Eggs that advertise their omega-3 content may be defrauding the public by claiming they can reduce your risk of heart disease. The deception here is that these eggs are typically low in the animal-based omega-3 fat DHA, which is far more beneficial to you than the plant-based ALA that most omega-3 eggs contain.

Farm-raised fish carrying the organic label – Applying the organic label to animal food products raised in food factories is a simple bastardization of the term. It is impossible to obtain all the benefits that were naturally included in these fish once artificial manipulation is introduced into the system.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Pinky,

Shouldn't this go into "OFF Topics".
I don't see this having any relation to Tips and Insights whiles practicing QT.

Einar

OK

Do not see how I can delete it after your message. Maybe you delete yours than I can delete mine.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Pinky,

Pinky, please don't change anything: This kind of information is life/death for allergic persons.

Me being one of them. If I had an antibiotic given me, inadvertantly or not, my immune system would kick its lil feetsies in the air and I would die.

I appreciate most of your warnings, and if I dislike something, which is rather rare, I can always skip past that post.

Einar's post was for that person, correct. I don't have the vaguest idea what was said, but please realize that what ecological disease can do with the smallest amount of antibiotic in the system is astounding, ranging from exacerbating Granular Anuloma to every disease you can possibly think of, including death.

Einar, perhaps a brief study of foods and illnesses would be of help to you?

Oh, since we are speaking of differences, would you remove the turtle from that Frisbee? The animals jaw is stretched so far that it is close to breaking the mandibular joint. Thank you.
zeneagle

Hi

I agree with Einar that this should be moved to Off Topics as it is not a QT Tips and Insight posting.

Please understand that many people that come to this site are not based in US.

Also people should be allowed to make an comment without being flamed.

- Mike

i agreee, this board is flooded with these kind of beware-messages. Have ever considered starting your own beware-for-this-and-that-site?

until then: please limit yourself to the offtopic section and relax .. you are not responsible for everybodies health