Our Commitment To Antibiotic-Free Meat

Antibiotics have been a tremendous advancement for public health, allowing for the easy treatment of bacterial illnesses that had been lethal previously. Their use has expanded well beyond treatment of human illness. Nowadays, farmers use antibiotics routinely to prevent illness in their herds and flocks. In fact, the Food and Drug Administration reported that 80% of all antibiotics in the US are fed to farm animals.

The problem is that such regular and widespread use of antibiotics has created strains of bacteria that are resistant to these drugs. According to a Federal Interagency Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance, “the extensive use of antimicrobial drugs has resulted in drug resistance that threatens to reverse the medical advances of the last seventy years.” And roughly 75% of antibiotics fed to farm animals remains undigested and can be passed to humans, making us more susceptible to bacterial illnesses.

We at Columbus have made a choice to begin the switch to antibiotic-free (ABF) meat. While this increases costs, we feel it’s the right thing to do for our customers, and, unlike large food manufacturers, we aren’t promising to make this change over the next 10 years. We are making this conversion now and will be substantially transitioned in the next several years.

You can already find our ABF turkey and chicken products in select regions of Costco, and many of our artisan salami already use ABF pork. Look for more of our products converting to ABF meat later this year and throughout 2017.

This commitment to ABF meat does not mean settling for inferior taste. As we continue to work with our trusted suppliers to make this conversion, we will never compromise the taste of our premium craft meats that you have been enjoying for almost a century.