Dive Brief:
- Essential oils could be the answer to reducing or replacing antibiotics used in poultry, according to recent research from Cargill.
- In testing the gut health benefits of essential oils for poultry as compared to antibiotics, Cargill found only slight differences in more than 85% of the results.
- Based on this research, Cargill created a proprietary essential oils-based product for poultry producers called the Promote Biacid Nucleus additive, which, when combined with an antibiotic-free diet, promotes weight gain and feed conversion with an estimated 5:1 return on investment.
Dive Insight:
Food animal producers have been searching for ways to reduce or replace antibiotics as consumers and legislators increasingly voice concerns about antibiotics in the food supply, so Cargill's research matches these trends. Last March, the Obama administration released an antibiotics and "superbugs" plan, and in June, the White House hosted a summit to discuss antibiotic use with producers and other interested parties. California passed a bill in October that restricts regular antibiotics use for disease prevention for livestock and bans antibiotics used to increase animals' weight.
Companies have responded with their own antibiotics policies. Tyson pledged to stop using human-use antibiotics for its chickens by 2017 and created a policy to use antibiotics only when necessary to manage and alleviate disease for the poultry distributed to institutions like hospitals and schools. Pilgrim's Pride committed to discontinue the use of all antibiotics in about 25% of its chicken production by 2019. Perdue Farms announced its acquisition of the Niman Ranch brand, which expands Perdue's portfolio of antibiotic-free meat products.
Sales of antibiotics for food animals have been increasing, including a 20% jump between 2009 and 2013, according to the FDA.