Court Orders Tyson to Suspend Ads For Antibiotic-Free Chicken
By Annys Shin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 2, 2008; D01
Poultry giant Tyson Foods has 14 days to dismantle a national multimillion dollar ad campaign centered on the claim that its chickens are raised without antibiotics, a federal appeals court in Richmond ruled yesterday.
Tyson, based in Springdale, Ark., will have to remove posters and brochures from 8,500 grocery stores nationwide.
"We're disappointed the motion for a stay has been denied and are evaluating our legal options," said Gary Mickelson, a spokesman for Tyson Foods. "We continue to believe we have acted responsibly in the way we have labeled and marketed our products and intend to stand our ground."
. . . Sanderson and Perdue initially based their legal challenge on Tyson's practice of feeding chickens ionophores, an antibiotic used only in animals raised for food . . . Tyson officials acknowledged they also inject eggs several days before they hatch with antibiotics that are approved for use in humans.
. . . Hogberg said injecting eggs with antibiotics did not undermine the "raised without antibiotic" label because the term "raised" is understood to cover the period that begins with hatching.
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Ah, the "Bill Clinton defense." Define "raised."
Crooks win again. Some guy on a street corner goes to the slammer for a dime bag sale and these corporate criminals merely have to undo what they have advertised. "Hey, I promise. No more dime bags. Okay?"
Aside from Tyson, a guy who would lie to you about his chicken, whenever this pharmaceutical company or that chemical plant gets caught killing people, they get off with a fine, without admitting liability. How can you use and continue to use and defend using antibiotics and, in the same semantic context, try to defend it by the way 'raised' is defined?
I didn't stick up the bank, I relieved it of the burden of currency. I didn't knock up the fourteen-year-old, I was merely careless with my fertilizer. Define 'burden' or 'careless' or 'crooked, lying industrial advertising.'
The first two might be controversial, but the latter is a slam-dunk for "Tyson Chicken, Better Eating through Dishonest Advertising."
* For more in-depth articles by Jim on Health Care, check out Opinion-Columns.com
