Less than a year after eliminating the routine use of human antibiotics in its chicken production, Purdue Farms says it is now raising more than half of its chickens with no antibiotics of any kind—human or animal.
The poultry producer has expanded its distribution to include more than 100 no-antibiotic chicken products in addition to a growing line of antibiotic free pork and turkey products.
“(We) have improved the way we raise chickens so that 96 percent of our flocks never require treatment with a human antibiotic," said Bruce Stewart Brown, Perdue's senior vice president of food safety, quality and live production. "However, we didn't stop there. We're going to continue to reduce our use of animal-only antibiotics, so that we're raising as many chickens as we can with no antibiotics of any kind – and offering that choice to consumers."
To educate consumers, the company is launching a consumer information campaign around its no-antibiotic-ever products which kicks off this week with a series of TV ad spots.