WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Fast food chain Chick-fil-A is planning to shift its policy from No Antibiotics Ever or NAE to No Antibiotics Important To Human Medicine or NAIHM, in order to serve good quality chicken to the customers.
Chick-fil-A explained that NAE 'means no antibiotics of any kind were used in raising the animal,' whereas NAIHM 'restricts the use of those antibiotics that are important to human medicine and commonly used to treat people, and allows the use of animal antibiotics only if the animal and those around it were to become sick.'
'As we looked to the future, the availability of high-quality chicken that meets our rigid standards became a concern,' a Chick-fil-A spokesman said.
The food chain pledged to serve 'real, white breast meat with no added fillers, artificial preservatives, steroids and no added hormones' in 2014, and vowed to source only cage-free eggs for the breakfast menu by 2026.
However, frequent bird flu outbreaks in the U.S. disrupted the chicken supplies to the restaurants, forcing Chick-fil-A to drop the policy. 'We established an Animal Wellbeing Council of outside experts, which provides feedback on our policies and practices,' the company stated. 'With their input, we are constantly evaluating our approach to animal wellbeing to ensure it is consistent with or exceeds industry standards.'
Antibiotics have been increasingly used by livestock producers to accelerate the weight gain process of animals such as chickens, pigs, cows and sheep, but in turn, harm human beings by making them drug-resistant.
According to a Food and Drug Administration analysis of antibiotics used in animal feed, the majority of them promoted drug-resistant bacteria, which means that a person eating might slowly stop responding to the medications prescribed by the doctor.
Many nations including the U.S. have started taking strict actions against such practices.
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