The increase in the amount of broilers raised using no-antibiotics-ever (NAE) programs in the U.S. has been dramatic. Dr. Ashley Peterson, senior vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs at the National Chicken Council, said that as recently as 2014, only three percent of U.S. broiler feed tonnage went into NAE growing programs, according to data collected by Dr. Greg Rennier, president, Renneir Associates. By December 2016, she told the audience at the Ceva Poultry Innovation Summit Asia in Bangkok on March 14, 2017, that nearly 33 percent of all U.S. broilers were in NAE growing programs. She added tht this will not result in a third of all birds slaughtered being NAE, since a percentge of these flocks will get sick and will need to be treated, thus will fall out of the NAE category.
Peterson said antibiotic usage in broiler growing programs can be categorized into three segments:
- No antibiotics ever: No antibiotics at all, including no ionophores, but can use chemical coccidiostats
- No medically important antibiotics: As defined by either the World Health Organization or U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Each organization has a slightly different list of allowable antibiotics, but both allow use of ionophores.
- Conventional: Can use all FDA-approved antimicrobials.
From 2013 to 2015, the broiler feed tonnage in the U.S. that was used in conventional feeding programs, those utilizing all FDA-approved antimicrobials, dropped from 47 to 34 percent.
Peterson said consumers seeking NAE chicken in the U.S. is part of the increased interest consumers have in how their food is produced. In response to this, niche markets have developed for differentiated poultry products; in addition to NAE, vegetarian fed, organic, free range and other categories have emerged.
The production methods used to fill these market niches are associated by consumers with values such as taste and nutrition, health concerns, and ethical/societal concerns, according to Peterson. The move to NAE chicken in the U.S. is going to continue to grow, she reported, even though this means of production is more expensive.
Ashley Peterson said that, at the end of 2016, one-third of all U.S. broilers were being raised in no-antibiotics-ever programs. | Terrence O'Keefe
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