If you’re a fan of Chick-fil-A, it might be because of the taste of their juicy, marinated, spiced-just-right, crispy fried chicken. You might also like their ethical practices regarding how their chickens are raised, as well as their avoidance of antibiotics.
But some of this is changing.
In a recent statement, Chick-fil-A announced that as of Spring 2024, they will no longer use chickens that have never had antibiotics (no antibiotics ever or NAE), but rather, will shift to using chickens that have not had antibiotics that are important to human medicine (NAIHM).
What Does This Mean?
According to the Chick-fil-A statement, “NAE means no antibiotics of any kind were used in raising the animal. NAIHM restricts the use of those antibiotics that are important to human medicine and commonly used to treat people, and allows the use of animal antibiotics only if the animal and those around it were to become sick.”
In other words, Chick-fil-A chickens aren’t going to have human antibiotics, like amoxicillin or erythromycin, tossed into their chicken feed. Only antibiotics suitable for animals will be used, and only when necessary—they will not be used prophylactically to prevent infection.
But this does raise the question: Do we want to be eating chicken that has been sick, even if they were given medication to cure the illness?
It should be safe, says Christa Brown, M.S., RDN, LD, a registered dietitian and owner of Christa Brown LLC, based in New Jersey, “So long as they are being treated because they are sick and not taking antibiotics on the regular as ‘preventative.’”
The use of human antibiotics in chickens—and more recently in beef and pork—started being a more limited practice in 2015 when the Antibiotic Resistance Action Center raised its standards and began certifying chicken farms. Certified Responsible Antibiotic Use poultry producers “are prohibited from using antibiotics with analogues in human medicine routinely or without clear medical justification, and such use must be rare, well documented and prescribed by a veterinarian,” per the Department of Agriculture.
The reason for this is due to evidence that regularly eating poultry and meat that have been treated with human antibiotics can cause antibiotic resistance—meaning, your body can build up a tolerance to them—per a 2021 study in Infection and Drug Resistance. When this happens, if you were to get sick and needed an antibiotic, it might not work. This could have serious consequences.
Ironically, antibiotic resistance also seems to happen to chickens who regularly receive antibiotics to prevent disease, says Brown, who points to a 2023 study in Frontiers in Public Health.
“[Researchers] discovered that when antibiotic usage in animals goes up by 1%, the resistance in animals also goes up, somewhere between 0.22% and 0.41%,” explains Brown. “Similarly, in humans, for every 1% increase in antibiotic usage, the resistance in humans also increases, ranging from 0.03% to 0.40%.”
While we don’t want to eat chicken that is treated prophylactically with antibiotics, we also don’t want to eat a chicken that’s infected with disease. So when there is an illness going through a flock, they most likely will be treated with antibiotics. In this case, you want the chickens treated only with antibiotics that are used for animals so that antibiotic resistance can be avoided in humans.
What’s Not Changing with Chick-fil-A Chicken?
Chick-fil-A stresses that they remain committed to providing the highest-quality chicken that still exceeds industry standards. They continue to serve only real, white breast meat with no added fillers, artificial preservatives, steroids or hormones.
The chickens Chick-fil-A uses are raised with high animal well-being standards, living cage-free and free to roam in well-ventilated barns that are temperature- and lighting-controlled. They are raised with proper nutrition and have full access to feed and water. And they are protected from weather and predators. Altogether, this helps create a low-stress environment for the birds.
Chick-fil-A also maintains an Animal Wellbeing Council that includes scientific and academic experts and evidence to ensure that the highest ethical standards are maintained for the healthiest chickens. And there is a continual evaluation of this process.
The Bottom Line
Chick-fil-A continues to be committed to using high-quality chicken that is raised ethically. While they will now use chickens that may have been treated with antibiotics, they are antibiotics that are not used on humans, are specifically for animals, and are only used when necessary. This means that you most likely do not have to worry about antibiotic resistance or eating chicken that is infected with some disease—at least not from Chick-fil-A.