Meat companies have been misleading health-conscious consumers

Companies are mislabeling meat as antibiotic-free, deceiving their customers and contributing to an escalating public health crisis. 

In 2024, testing by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) found that about one in five samples of beef labeled as “Raised Without Antibiotics” (RWA) tested positive for antibiotic presence, including meat sold by 3 of the 4 largest meatpacking firms in the country. 

These findings come as demand for antibiotic-free meat is growing among Americans. One survey found that buying antibiotic-free meat was “slightly to very important” to 87% of surveyed consumers. 

And they have good reasons to choose RWA meat. 

Why antibiotic-free meat matters

Antibiotics are one of modern medicine’s greatest breakthroughs, treating what would otherwise be severe infections and making common surgical procedures far less risky, helping save countless lives.

Yet these near-miracle drugs come with a catch: The more antibiotics are used, the less effective they become, as bacteria rapidly adapt, quickly developing resistance to the drugs once designed to kill them.

That’s why PIRG and other public health advocates have become alarmed by the seemingly reckless overuse of antibiotics. 

In the United States, nearly two-thirds of antibiotics, including those critical to human health, aren’t found in hospitals, pharmacies or our homes. Instead, they are fed in bulk to livestock, often to animals that aren’t even sick, in an attempt to prevent the infections and diseases common in the unsanitary, overcrowded conditions of modern industrial farming. 

This overuse of antibiotics on farm animals puts us all at risk of a global health crisis. Antibiotic-resistant infections now affect more than 2.8 million Americans annually, resulting in at least 35,000 deaths. But as drug-resistant diseases grow, experts assert that globally they could directly kill 39 million people, and indirectly contribute to 169 million more deaths, between now and 2050. 

As consumers have become aware of this problem many, including PIRG and its members, have been demanding that companies buy their meats from sources raised without antibiotics. These efforts have made a difference, especially in the poultry industry, where we’ve seen a dramatic reduction in the use of antibiotics in the last decade. But that progress could unravel if companies are allowed to call their meat products RWA when they’re not.

All of which begs the question: How are meat companies getting away with mislabeling their products as Raised Without Antibiotics?

Lax enforcement and loopholes have real world consequences

The USDA continues to accept self-reported testing and documentation of antibiotics usage, allowing companies to submit statistics that aren’t verified or supported by any independent party. While there is sporadic testing conducted by the agency, the number of tests conducted pales in comparison to the number of cows slaughtered for consumption every year. 

This shoddy testing undermines the personal and moral choices that consumers make when choosing their meat. You may think you’re buying a beautifully marbled grass-fed steak raised without antibiotics, but turns out, it may be just the opposite. 

Instead of being responsible, proactive consumers, you and your family are unknowingly made to contribute to the overuse of antibiotics and a serious health crisis. Despite trying to buy RWA meat from what was advertised as a sustainable source, a faulty label has forced you to help support a practice that could harm us all. 

Worse still, this mislabeling makes consumers perpetuate unsustainable, unhealthy and often unethical farming practices. It helps companies that source antibiotic-treated meat, and leaves well-informed, health conscious consumers unintentionally complicit. 

This undermines efforts to shift our food systems to more transparent, healthy and safe practices that would be beneficial for our health, animal welfare and the efficacy of our antibiotics.

These complications and risks have already led many Americans to switch to buying RWA meat. 

This should be good news 

The demand for RWA products is growing fast. In 2022, RWA meat was a roughly $17 billion industry; by 2032, that’s projected to nearly double. 

More consumers are waking up and realizing that antibiotic meat isn’t worth the risk. While meat labeled RWA is on average 20% more expensive than its non-labeled counterparts, nearly three quarters of Americans surveyed said they’d be willing to pay more for that RWA label. 

Consumers are willing to pay more to protect the public’s health resources and preserve lifesaving medicines. While that’s certainly great news, companies, and the agencies that regulate them, are still letting mislabeled meat be sold. 

Clearly there’s a market and desire for RWA meat, and that offers hope that one day this senseless, and frankly dangerous, overuse of antibiotics in agriculture may one day end. 

The USDA seems to be stepping up 

So what can we do to fix the mislabeling of our meat?

The good news…. In 2023, the USDA announced a plan to strengthen the veracity of its labels and crack down on faulty self-reporting.

The USDA said it would start performing initial widespread testing to better determine the breadth of the mislabeling issue and determine whether laboratory testing should be required for RWA and other labels. 

The agency also planned on revising its guidelines, ensuring that companies provide more accurate and in-depth documentation about their product and testing process. Lastly, the USDA also strongly encouraged third party testing and verification.

Unfortunately, due to recent, significant cuts to USDA food inspection and safety workers, the future of these policies is up in the air. However, if the USDA follows through on these commitments, it will be great news for health-conscious consumers, and for public health in general.

In the meantime, there’s another way we as concerned consumers can bring about change.

What can you do to address this issue

As consumers, we have the power to encourage companies to source their beef from antibiotic-free sources. 

PIRG and our national network, alongside thousands of concerned consumers, have been working to reduce antibiotic usage in our food supply. Recently we’ve: 

• Delivered thousands of signatures to McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski imploring the fast food giant to source its beef from antibiotic-free sources.
• Gathered nearly 10,000 PIRG supporters to ask Panera to restore its no antibiotic policies.
• Urged the FDA and other agencies to strengthen and enforce policies surrounding antibiotics and meat labeling. 

We know this can be done. Consumer demand and advocacy in the 2010s led the poultry industry to drastically reduce antibiotic use. Between 2017 and 2023, antibiotic use in poultry production dropped by 43%.

Some companies have already begun to phase out antibiotics in their meat supply. For instance, Shake Shack has a firm no antibiotics policy throughout its entire supply chain, ensuring that all its beef, pork and poultry comes from responsible, antibiotic-free suppliers. 

Together we can make a difference and stop this misleading, potentially dangerous, practice before it gets out of control. 

PIRG’s Stop the Overuse of Antibiotics campaign will continue to urge our government and corporations to label their products honestly and help keep antibiotics working to save people’s lives.

Antibiotics are too effective a tool to waste.