A few years ago, our customers told us they were interested in antibiotic-free chicken, so in 2014, we made a commitment to serve chicken raised with “No Antibiotics Ever” by December 31, 2019 – one of the first and boldest commitments to antibiotic-free meat in the industry.

What is Chick-fil-A’s “No Antibiotics Ever” Commitment?

Our commitment to No Antibiotics Ever means that Chick-fil-A chicken suppliers are working toward a goal to never to directly administer antibiotics within their operation, during the entire life cycle. There are three key tenets to this commitment:

• ZERO Added Antibiotics. This doesn’t just mean that we avoid antibiotics that are important to human medicine, or that we only avoid routine use. It means that our suppliers use NO antibiotics of any kind – as defined by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – starting from the egg. No antibiotics can be used in the feed, water, commercial vaccines, or other treatments, including ionophores. While birds that need antibiotics for medical reasons can still be treated for their wellbeing, birds that have been treated can no longer be included in Chick-fil-A’s supply chain. No use of human or animal antibiotics. No. Antibiotics. Ever.

   

• NO Exceptions. Rather than quickly moving to adopt a more lenient standard or buying antibiotic-free meat that’s already readily available, we are working with our suppliers to create a supply chain of chicken for every customer, everywhere, every day. As the nation’s largest chicken chain, this is a significant endeavor – the infrastructure simply doesn’t exist to support the amount of chicken we serve. Instead, we are collaborating with our suppliers to build the infrastructure for a stable supply of chicken raised with No Antibiotics Ever from the ground up, which takes time.

   

• Verified and Certified. We're working with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to verify that our suppliers are continuously meeting our commitment of No Antibiotics Ever.
  • Each facility must be re-certified and maintain certification in order to be an approved supplier.
  • Suppliers must submit evidence of that certification to Chick-fil-A annually.
  • If certification is lost due to non-compliance, that facility is no longer approved to produce product for Chick-fil-A. The supplier must regain Chick-fil-A’s No Antibiotics Ever certification before it may produce again.
  • A supplier must notify Chick-fil-A immediately if certification is lost. Any future changes to the USDA’s No Antibiotics Ever Process Verified Program (PVP) may require changes to this specification.
  • Order volume with suppliers changes throughout the year, which creates fluctuation in our numbers.
  • Suppliers must report on progress annually.

How is Chick-fil-A’s Commitment to “No Antibiotics Ever” Different?

Consumers often see various messages about quick-service restaurants going antibiotic-free; however, not all antibiotic-free policies were created equal.

Beyond many other antibiotic-free meat commitments, Chick-fil-A’s No Antibiotics Ever commitment allows NO antibiotics of any kind – as defined by the FDA – starting from the egg.  As the nation’s largest chicken chain, ensuring a stable supply of this type of chicken requires building the infrastructure from the ground up, as the supply of chicken raised with No Antibiotics Ever simply does not exist yet at this scale, which takes time.

How is Chick-fil-A Progressing in its Transition?

We are proud to report that we have converted more than 70% of our supply to chicken raised with No Antibiotics Ever to date, and we are on track to achieve our goal of converting 100% of our chicken supply by December 31, 2019. We will continue to provide updates on our progress as we move forward.