June 16, 2008
    

Tyson takes USDA to court to defend chicken label

Calling itself a victim of flawed regulatory procedures, Tyson Foods Inc. has sued the USDA over the right to use the antibiotic-free chicken label, a company spokesman said Friday (June 13, 2008).

Earlier this month, the USDA required Tyson to remove its hot-selling Raised Without Antibiotics chicken label after the department said the company was using antibiotics in its hatcheries two to three days before the chicks were hatched. The USDA concluded that Tyson's chicken was therefore not raised without antibiotics.

The poultry giant says that decision was made "arbitrarily and capriciously" as part of a new regulatory regime by the department that created a novel distinction between antibiotics in chickens before hatching and after.

Tyson contends that the USDA is misinterpreting the word "raised" to mean chicken that was raised with antibiotics "in ovo," or "in the shell before hatching." Instead, Tyson says the correct interpretation of the word "raised" should mean "the period between hatching and slaughter."

The company wants a judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to set aside the new rule. Complicating matters, Tyson voluntarily withdrew its label and says it would not use the label until a public hearing establishes clearer rules on such labels.

Tyson has been dogged by questions about its antibiotic label, which was approved by the USDA in May 2007. The company was the first major chicken producer to receive approval for such a label and won accolades for its efforts at offering more consumer-friendly, healthy options. Consumers have become increasingly concerned about the potential link between eating meat from animals raised with antibiotics and human antibiotic resistance.

The company touted the new label as part of a US$70 million advertising campaign launched last summer. Then in an about-face in September, the USDA said it had made a mistake in approving the label after realizing that Tyson was using ionophores, a type of antibiotic widely used in the industry but considered less harmful because it is generally used on animals, not humans.

After that decision, the department and the company struck a bargain, allowing the company to modify its label rather than scrap it. Competitors cried foul and petitioned to have the label removed altogether. That led to the department's decision earlier this month.

Originally, the USDA gave Tyson until June 18 to stop producing chicken with the label. Tyson said the USDA has extended that deadline to July 9.

Two of Tyson's competitors have sued the company in a separate lawsuit for allegedly engaging in false and misleading advertising. Both Sanderson Farms Inc and Perdue Farms say Tyson's campaign resulted in much lost business.