US: Court Orders Tyson to Suspend Ads For Antibiotic-Free Chicken

[Guest guest]

http://waronyou.com/2008/05/us-court-orders-tyson-to-suspend-ads-for-antibiotic-\

free-chicken/

 

 

Poultry giant Tyson Foods has 14 days to dismantle a national

multimillion dollar ad campaign centered on the claim that its

chickens are raised without antibiotics, a federal appeals court in

Richmond ruled yesterday.

 

Tyson, based in Springdale, Ark., will have to remove posters and

brochures from 8,500 grocery stores nationwide.

 

" We're disappointed the motion for a stay has been denied and are

evaluating our legal options, " said Gary Mickelson, a spokesman for

Tyson Foods. " 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 ruling is a setback for Tyson in its ongoing battle with two of

its competitors Sanderson Farms, based in Laurel, Miss., and Perdue

Farms, based in Salisbury, Md. The two companies jointly sought an

injunction to stop Tyson's ad campaign, arguing the " raised without

antibiotics " claim misleads consumers by making it appear Tyson's

chicken is safer or more healthful.

 

Sanderson and Perdue initially based their legal challenge on Tyson's

practice of feeding chickens ionophores, an antibiotic used only in

animals raised for food. Sanderson and Perdue also use ionophores.

 

Then during trial in federal court in Baltimore, Tyson officials

acknowledged they also inject eggs several days before they hatch

with antibiotics that are approved for use in humans. Dave Hogberg,

Tyson's senior vice president for consumer products, said it is a

common industry practice.

 

Hogberg said injecting eggs with antibiotics did not undermine the

" raised without antibiotic " label because the term " raised " is

understood to cover the period that begins with hatching.

 

More consumers are becoming concerned about the use of antibiotics in

poultry, swine and cattle because they and many public health experts

think that it contributes to the rise of antibiotic-resistant viruses

in humans.

 

The dispute between Tyson and its competitors began last year, when

Tyson announced it would raise its chickens without antibiotics, as

part of a larger effort to relaunch its brand. It sought approval

from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the use of the label

" raised without antibiotics. " USDA initially approved the language,

then last fall reversed itself, saying it had made a mistake.

 

Tyson came up with a new label that said, " raised without antibiotics

that impact antibiotic resistance in humans " that the USDA greenlighted.

 

The resulting advertising campaign proved a huge success. In a

February conference call, Tyson chief executive Richard Bond told

analysts the company has had double-digit increases in sales of fresh

chicken raised without antibiotics, totaling an additional 70 million

pounds of chicken a year.

 

But Tyson's success came at a high cost for its competitors, said

Randall K. Miller, a partner at Arnold and Porter and lead counsel

for Sanderson and Perdue. The companies sued in January seeking to

force Tyson to stop making claims that its products were antibiotic free.

 

Sanderson blamed Tyson's ad campaign for the loss of a $4 million

account, and Perdue blamed it for a $10 million loss in revenue.

Greater damage, however, was done to the companies' reputations,

Miller said. In seeking an injunction against Tyson's ad campaign,

Sanderson and Perdue argued that Tyson's " raised without antibiotics "

claim caused irreparable harm by implying its competitors' products

contained antibiotics or dangerous additives and were therefore less safe.

 

Separately, Sanderson and Perdue also petitioned USDA to rescind its

approval of Tyson's " raised without the use of antibiotics that

impact antibiotic resistance in humans " label, citing both the use of

antibiotics in unhatched eggs and in chicken feed.

 

In an April 30 letter to Miller regarding the companies' petition,

the USDA said the egg injecting practice was " of serious concern. "

 

" Rather than discuss any specifics to this particular case, [the Food

Safety and Inspection Service of USDA] has requested additional

information to help us determine what the facts are in this

situation, " FSIS spokeswoman Amanda Eamich said.

 

Hogberg said Tyson has been forthright with regulators. He said he

hopes Tyson and USDA can resolve the matter quickly.

 

" As we did in working with them on the qualified claim last fall . .

.. we would hope the process would be similar so we can preserve this

benefit for the mainstream consumer, " he said.

[Guest guest]

Wow! I am so glad you wrote about this and so angered, at the same

time, certainly not with you but with Tyson foods. I ONLY buy chicken

raised without antibiotics and, as you well know, pay extra for that.

 

It just boils my blood that there is so much deception about what

goes into our food here.( I swear that is why Cancer is like a plague

these days and hitting us at ever younger ages). How idiotic that

they say that injecting the egg is different from injecting them

while they are raised. Semantics really!!

 

The sad truth is that it is all about chasing the big money with no

regard for the damage that is being done to humankind. Really

sickens me.

 

I have a blog about Natural Health Solutions and one of the areas I

will be focusing on is Organic, Non-Antibiotic foods etc...here it is

if you would like to check it out

http://www.getnaturalhealthsolutions.com

and I would really like your permission to post what you wrote here

on my blog if that would be okay with you. You can email me directly

if you wish to say Yay or Nay as far as posting the article on my

blog at sfmchris. Thanks and keep up the good work.

 

, Hanneke <blosshan

wrote:

>

> http://waronyou.com/2008/05/us-court-orders-tyson-to-suspend-ads-

for-antibiotic-free-chicken/

>

>

> Poultry giant Tyson Foods has 14 days to dismantle a national

> multimillion dollar ad campaign centered on the claim that its

> chickens are raised without antibiotics, a federal appeals court in

> Richmond ruled yesterday.

>

> Tyson, based in Springdale, Ark., will have to remove posters and

> brochures from 8,500 grocery stores nationwide.

>

> " We're disappointed the motion for a stay has been denied and are

> evaluating our legal options, " said Gary Mickelson, a spokesman for

> Tyson Foods. " 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 ruling is a setback for Tyson in its ongoing battle with two of

> its competitors Sanderson Farms, based in Laurel, Miss., and Perdue

> Farms, based in Salisbury, Md. The two companies jointly sought an

> injunction to stop Tyson's ad campaign, arguing the " raised without

> antibiotics " claim misleads consumers by making it appear Tyson's

> chicken is safer or more healthful.

>

> Sanderson and Perdue initially based their legal challenge on

Tyson's

> practice of feeding chickens ionophores, an antibiotic used only in

> animals raised for food. Sanderson and Perdue also use ionophores.

>

> Then during trial in federal court in Baltimore, Tyson officials

> acknowledged they also inject eggs several days before they hatch

> with antibiotics that are approved for use in humans. Dave Hogberg,

> Tyson's senior vice president for consumer products, said it is a

> common industry practice.

>

> Hogberg said injecting eggs with antibiotics did not undermine the

> " raised without antibiotic " label because the term " raised " is

> understood to cover the period that begins with hatching.

>

> More consumers are becoming concerned about the use of antibiotics

in

> poultry, swine and cattle because they and many public health

experts

> think that it contributes to the rise of antibiotic-resistant

viruses

> in humans.

>

> The dispute between Tyson and its competitors began last year, when

> Tyson announced it would raise its chickens without antibiotics, as

> part of a larger effort to relaunch its brand. It sought approval

> from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the use of the label

> " raised without antibiotics. " USDA initially approved the language,

> then last fall reversed itself, saying it had made a mistake.

>

> Tyson came up with a new label that said, " raised without

antibiotics

> that impact antibiotic resistance in humans " that the USDA

greenlighted.

>

> The resulting advertising campaign proved a huge success. In a

> February conference call, Tyson chief executive Richard Bond told

> analysts the company has had double-digit increases in sales of

fresh

> chicken raised without antibiotics, totaling an additional 70

million

> pounds of chicken a year.

>

> But Tyson's success came at a high cost for its competitors, said

> Randall K. Miller, a partner at Arnold and Porter and lead counsel

> for Sanderson and Perdue. The companies sued in January seeking to

> force Tyson to stop making claims that its products were antibiotic

free.

>

> Sanderson blamed Tyson's ad campaign for the loss of a $4 million

> account, and Perdue blamed it for a $10 million loss in revenue.

> Greater damage, however, was done to the companies' reputations,

> Miller said. In seeking an injunction against Tyson's ad campaign,

> Sanderson and Perdue argued that Tyson's " raised without

antibiotics "

> claim caused irreparable harm by implying its competitors' products

> contained antibiotics or dangerous additives and were therefore

less safe.

>

> Separately, Sanderson and Perdue also petitioned USDA to rescind

its

> approval of Tyson's " raised without the use of antibiotics that

> impact antibiotic resistance in humans " label, citing both the use

of

> antibiotics in unhatched eggs and in chicken feed.

>

> In an April 30 letter to Miller regarding the companies' petition,

> the USDA said the egg injecting practice was " of serious concern. "

>

> " Rather than discuss any specifics to this particular case, [the

Food

> Safety and Inspection Service of USDA] has requested additional

> information to help us determine what the facts are in this

> situation, " FSIS spokeswoman Amanda Eamich said.

>

> Hogberg said Tyson has been forthright with regulators. He said he

> hopes Tyson and USDA can resolve the matter quickly.

>

> " As we did in working with them on the qualified claim last

fall . .

> . we would hope the process would be similar so we can preserve

this

> benefit for the mainstream consumer, " he said.

>