Tyson will phase out human antibiotic use in its chickens by late 2017

A Tyson truck.
(Image credit: Mario Villafuerte/Getty Images)

By the end of September 2017, Tyson Foods will eliminate human antibiotics from its chicken, the company announced Tuesday.

In recent years, public health advocates have become more vocal about the overuse of antibiotics in both people and farm animals, which can cause antibiotic resistance. In a statement, Donnie Smith, the president and CEO of Tyson Foods, said, "We're confident our meat and poultry products are safe, but want to do our part to responsibly reduce human antibiotics on the farm so these medicines can continue working when they're needed to treat illness."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.