{"id":5337,"date":"2025-04-16T11:32:57","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T15:32:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/?p=5337"},"modified":"2025-04-16T11:32:59","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T15:32:59","slug":"press-release-farm-forward-reveals-major-beef-companies-continue-deceptive-use-of-antibiotic-free-labels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/news\/press-release-farm-forward-reveals-major-beef-companies-continue-deceptive-use-of-antibiotic-free-labels\/","title":{"rendered":"Press Release: Farm Forward Reveals Major Beef Companies Continue Deceptive Use of Antibiotic-Free Labels"},"content":{"rendered":"\t
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FOIA documents expose which companies failed the United States Department of Agriculture\u2019s 2023 antibiotics sampling project and what\u2019s changed since they concluded the project in August.<\/em><\/p>\n

In an investigation released today<\/a>, Farm Forward revealed that trusted beef brands like Tyson, Cargill, and JBS have been deceiving consumers by continuing to sell products that are not antibiotic-free under Raised Without Antibiotics (RWA) labels. In an issue brief titled, \u201cIs Antibiotic-Free Meat Really Antibiotic-Free?,\u201d Farm Forward exposes how deceptive use of RWA marketing claims by several major beef companies persisted even after the USDA announced findings<\/a> from a 2023 antibiotics sampling project, which revealed at least 20 percent of tested cattle samples labeled \u201craised without antibiotics\u201d or \u201cno antibiotics ever\u201d contained antibiotics.<\/p>\n

Farm Forward\u2019s investigation was prompted by the USDA\u2019s refusal to regulate and provide punitive action against bad actors or even disclose which companies\u2019 products tested positive for antibiotics in their study. The agency\u2019s inaction has prevented consumers from being able to make informed decisions about what they eat, what kinds of labels they support, and how much they spend.<\/p>\n

Farm Forward Executive Director Andrew deCoriolis said<\/strong>, \u201cThe findings from this investigation underscore a pattern of the USDA leaving everyday people across this country to chance and prioritizing industry\u2019s bottom line at our expense. Beef brands that many know and trust have been knowingly defrauding the public with claims that their products are free of antibiotics, and while they are certainly at fault, the USDA\u2014the government agency responsible for regulating America\u2019s agriculture\u2014is at fault for not enforcing the standards they\u2019ve set.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe USDA claims to \u2018keep America’s farmers and ranchers in business and ensure the nation’s meat, poultry, and egg products are safe, wholesome, and properly labeled.\u2019 The data revealed that these products were not properly labeled, and the USDA did nothing about it, and it further proves that agribusiness is being protected, but the American people are not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bill Niman, well-known California rancher, added<\/strong>, \u201cThe deceptive marketing of \u2018antibiotic-free\u2019 meat creates an uneven playing field that severely disadvantages truly humane and sustainable farmers and ranchers. While industrial producers make misleading claims with the USDA’s tacit approval, genuine small-scale producers who actually raise animals without antibiotics must compete against these false narratives. These ethical farmers invest significantly more in proper animal care, space, and preventive health measures to legitimately avoid antibiotics, resulting in higher production costs. When large meat companies can simply slap misleading labels on their products without actually changing their practices, they undercut honest producers on price while stealing their market share. This deception not only harms consumers who believe they’re making ethical choices but systematically undermines the economic viability of the very farming systems that could transform our food system for the better.\u201d<\/p>\n

###<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":4842,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-animal-product-labeling","category-antibiotics"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}