Complain about a product or service

Court Orders Tyson to Pluck its 'No Antibiotics' Campaign

Competitors sued Tyson, claiming its ads were misleading

By Truman Lewis
ConsumerAffairs.com

May 2, 2008

Food Safety • Salmonella Scare Prompts Dairy Recall • Most Consumers Lack Confidence In Food Safety, Survey Says • House Committee Unanimously Passes Food Safety Bill • Food Safety Bill Aired In House • House Committee Moves Forward On Food Safety Legislation • Illinois Meat Packer Recalls 95,898 Pounds Of Beef • Alfalfa Sprouts Linked to Salmonella • Food Safety Results Level Off • Sprouts Recalled Due To Possible Listeria • FDA Warns About Listeria in Salmon • Food Industry Accused of Big Tobacco's Bad Habits • FDA Closes Tortilla Plant • Surface Water May Be Source Of Salmonella • Key Senator Blasts FDA Over Food Safety > • FDA Rolls Out Food Safety Plan • Brits Get Treats, Yanks Get Tricks From Food Companies • Hartz Recalls Rawhide Chips After Possible Salmonella Contamination • Vermont Firm Recalls Possibly-Tainted Ground Beef • Beef Sent to Puerto Rico May Be Contaminated with E. coli • Technology Offers Revolution in Food Safety Testing • Chinese Gorillas Fall Ill as Melamine Scandal Widens • Alfalfa Sprouts Recalled in Salmonella Outbreak • CDC Gives "All Clear" On Salmonella Outbreak • One Death Reported in Oklahoma E. coli Outbreak • Feds Approve Irradiation of Spinach, Lettuce • FDA Issues Warning About Frozen Seafood • Whole Foods Extends Beef Recall • Whole Foods Recalls Fresh Ground Beef • Six New E. coli Cases Reported In Massachusetts --- • More ...

Egged on by competitors, a federal appeals court has given Tyson Foods 14 days to remove advertising that claims its chickens are safer to eat because they are "raised without antibiotics."

The appeals court in Richmond, Va., denied Tyson's appeal of a Baltimore judge's ruling last April and ordered the company to start removing its ads from stores and the media.

Tyson's competitors, Sanderson and Perdue, had filed suit claiming that Tyson's ads were misleading because none of the companies use the types of antiobiotics that can lead to drug resistance in humans. Sanderson said it lost $4 million in sales since last year as a result of the Tyson campaign, while Perdue contended it lost $11 million.

"We're disappointed the motion for a stay has been denied and are evaluating our legal options," Gary Mickelson, a spokesman for Tyson Foods, Springdale, Ark., said in a statement. "We continue to believe we have acted responsibly in the way we have labeled and marketed our products and intend to stand our ground." The company said it has already contacted stores about removing POP advertising.

Tyson, the world's largest meat processor, spent an estimated $70 million on the "raised without antibiotics" campaign.

USDA admits error

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said it made a mistake in May 2007 when it approved the Tyson labeling. The decision is a big blow to Tyson, which has staked its brand's reputation on the no-antibiotics claim.

The controversy revolves around medications added to poultry feed to keep chickens from getting intestinal infections that can cause weight loss and death in poultry.

The medication -- ionophores -- is not technically an antibiotic, Tyson said, insisting it's really an antimicrobial.

But in a letter to Tyson, USDA said its longstanding policy is that "ionophores are antibiotics," The Wall Street Journal reported.

Tyson claims the USDA has known all along that it was using ionophores but senior government officials said they only learned of it recently.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.