Flash in the Pan

Tyson Foods, which, I think, is the world's largest chicken producer, was advertising that some of its products were raised without antibiotics. Au contraire, said two huge competitors that went to court to challenge the statements. As it turns out, "raised without antibiotics" might have been right had they been talking about the drugs as neighbors. But according to the Washington Post story about Tyson's loss on appeal, there was a type of antibiotic in the chicken feed and before hatching, eggs got an injection of antibiotics:

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.

Guess "raised" doesn't count food, either. Unfortunately, some large companies are willing to capitalize on consumer concerns about food without going to the length of actually doing anything about their practices. Guess they've been listening to the concept of marketing being about perception for a bit too long.

Labels: chicken, marketing, news, Tyson