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Some Chicken Producers Heeding Call For Decreased Use Of Antibiotics

(CBS) -- More consumers are demanding meats and poultry that haven't  been exposed to antibiotics.

It was a trend mostly ignored by big companies, until recently, CBS 2's Vince Gerasole reports.

Local Foods is a boutique grocery store, billing itself as Chicago first sustainable "whole animal butcher shop."

Customers pay a premium to buy chicken that hasn't been fed antibiotics.

"People want to know what's in their food," Rob Levitt says.

That trend is reaching more mainstream consumers. And now Perdue, the nation's third-largest poultry producer, is responding. By June, two-thirds of its chickens will be processed without antibiotics, up from 50 percent a year ago.

For decades, in feed and water, antibiotics have been given to chickens to ward off sickness. Critics charge the practice may have helped deadly bacteria become resistant to the drugs.

Public Health expert Dr. Everly Macario has lobbied for a safer food supply.  Her own son, Simon, died when exposed to a strain of the MRSA bacteria that was resistant to antibiotics.

"The fact Perdue is listening to consumers and making changes is the most gratifying news ever," Macario says.

Tyson last year announced it would eliminate antibiotics that are also used to treat human illnesses. Also, McDonald's, Chik-fil-A and Subway are all either reducing or eliminating antibiotics used by their suppliers.

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