Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing global crisis. According to the CDC, it’s “one of the greatest public health challenges of our time,” already responsible for over 1.27 million deaths annually, with millions more at risk as once-treatable infections become incurable. The overuse of antibiotics in industrial animal agriculture is a major driver of this crisis—and yet, meat companies and U.S. regulatory agencies have repeatedly failed to act.
Rather than protecting public health, powerful corporations like Tyson, Cargill, and JBS—with the complicity of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA)—continue to exploit weak regulations, while misleading consumers with marketing claims about “antibiotic-free” meat even when using antibiotics.
The science is clear: routine antibiotic use in factory farming breeds antibiotic-resistant bacteria that can infect humans. The problem isn’t isolated or accidental—two-thirds of medically important antibiotics in the U.S. are used on farmed animals, often not to treat disease but to prevent illness in overcrowded, unsanitary facilities.
These subtherapeutic doses kill off targeted bacteria and leave the most resistant strains to multiply—leading to “superbugs” that can spread through meat, manure, water, and even the air. The proliferation of these antibiotic-resistant bacteria is why infections that once responded to common antibiotics now require stronger drugs—or are simply untreatable.
Even last-resort antibiotics are becoming less effective. And while scientists warn of a post-antibiotic era, U.S. agencies like the FDA still don’t track how antibiotics are used on farms. Meat producers are not required to report why or how long drugs are given. The system depends almost entirely on voluntary reporting.
As awareness of AMR has grown, consumers have turned to meat labeled “Raised Without Antibiotics” (RWA) or “No Antibiotics Ever” (NAE) in an attempt to make safer, more ethical choices. But recent testing by the USDA and independent researchers reveals a disturbing truth: 1 in 5 samples of RWA beef contained antibiotics.
Major producers—including Tyson, Cargill, and JBS—have continued to sell meat under RWA labels despite testing positive for drug residues, profiting from consumer trust while ignoring their own supply chain failures. Even after being notified by the USDA, many companies refused to change their practices or update their marketing.
Worse still, the USDA doesn’t require testing to verify RWA claims. The agency allows companies to self-report, with no audits, no mandatory documentation, and no penalties for getting caught. The FDA, meanwhile, has failed to track on-farm antibiotic use, enforce duration limits, or require clear drug labeling by pharmaceutical companies.
Farm Forward and other public health advocates are calling for urgent reform to stop the spread of antibiotic resistance and hold companies accountable:
Without decisive action, the misuse of antibiotics in meat production will continue to fuel a global health emergency.
Antibiotic resistance is a deadly, growing crisis—and factory farming is one of its primary drivers. U.S. meat producers and regulators fail to protect the public, while misleading consumers with false “antibiotic-free” labels. It’s time for accountability, transparency, and bold action.
Learn more about antibiotic resistance, the companies caught using false labels, the agencies that are failing us, and potential policy solutions in our new report, Animal Agriculture and the Antibiotic Resistance Crisis: How Corporate Deception and Regulatory Failure Undermine Public Health.
Read the reportQui, Linda. “Egg Prices and Economic Claims: A Fact Check.” The New York Times, The New York Times Company, 3 Apr. 2025.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Consumer Price Index Average Price Data: Eggs, Grade A, Large, Per Doz. in U.S. City Average, Average Price, Not Seasonally Adjusted,” data extracted April 29, 2025.
Nsikan Akpan, “U.S. Egg Prices See Largest Jump Since 1980 as Bird Flu Outbreaks Continue,” Think Global Health, March 12, 2025.
USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), “Confirmations of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Commercial and Backyard Flocks;” USDA APHIS, “Detections of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Mammals.”
United States Department of Agriculture, “Egg Markets Overview,” April 25, 2025.