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Tyson to change chicken labels, drop no antibiotics claimLITTLE ROCK (AP)--Tyson Foods Inc., announced June 2 it would "voluntarily withdraw" labels claiming that its poultry products don't contain antibiotics, after a federal court issued an injunction stopping the company from making the claim in its advertising. In a statement, the world's largest meat producer said it notified the U.S. Department of Agriculture it would stop using the "raised without antibiotics" chicken label. Tyson said it asked the USDA, which previously had approved the slogan, to start "a public process to bring more clarity and consistency to labeling and advertising rules" on antibiotic claims. Tyson based the slogan on the absence of any antibiotic believed to affect humans. "We still support the idea of marketing chicken raised without antibiotics because we know it's what most consumers want," Tyson senior vice president Dave Hogberg said. "However, in order to preserve the integrity of our label and our reputation as a premier company in the food industry, we believe there needs to be more specific labeling and advertising protocols." U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett in Baltimore had set a May 15 deadline to stop Tyson from running any of the advertisements, including in-store posters and brochures. The injunction came after competitors Perdue Farms Inc., and Sanderson Farms Inc., sued, claiming Tyson's advertising was misleading. Tyson had appealed Bennett's ruling, but the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., in May denied a motion by Tyson to stay the order. Sanderson, based in Laurel, Miss., has argued it lost a $4 million account to Tyson because of the advertising campaign, and Salisbury-based Perdue claims it has lost about $10 million in revenue since last year. The earlier order centered on advertising and did not require Tyson to change its labeling. Charles Hansen of the Truthful Labeling Coalition, whose members are Perdue, Sanderson and Livingston, Calif.,-based Foster Farms, had asked the USDA to rescind its approval for Tyson's labeling. Hansen did not immediately return a call for comment left at his office June 2. The USDA had told Tyson that it had mistakenly overlooked an additive called ionophores that is used in feed for Tyson's chicken. Regulators said the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service has a long-standing policy of classifying ionophores as antibiotics. Tyson disagreed, saying the U.S. Food and Drug Administration did not consider them antibiotics. Hogberg later testified in court that the company spent about $16 million on the original publicity campaign, including about $4 million in promotional materials. Tyson said June 2 it has begun designing and ordering new labeling and packaging for its poultry products. Tyson stressed its decision would not cause any changes in how the Springdale-based company "protects the health of its birds." "The company does not use antibiotics for the purpose of growth promotion," the Tyson statement read. "On those rare occasions when antibiotics are used to treat an illness, it is on a prescription-basis only to protect birth health." Tyson, the country's second-largest chicken producer after Pilgrim's Pride Corp., said at the time that fresh chicken made up less than 10 percent of the company's sales, which also include pork and beef.
Date: 6/11/08 Advertisement
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