Tyson Foods Inc. has announced that it will remove the controversial raised without antibiotics label from its chicken.

Tyson said it would withdraw the USDA-approved label, which reads, "raised without antibiotics that impact antibiotic resistance in humans," due to "uncertainty and controversy over product labeling regulations and advertising claims."

The company also said that it has asked USDA to consider initiating a public process to bring more consistency to labeling and advertising rules involving antibiotic-related product claims and all raising claims in general.

"We still support the idea of marketing chicken raised without antibiotics because we know it's what most consumers want," Dave Hogberg, senior vice president of consumer products for Tyson said in a statement. "However, in order to preserve the integrity of our label and our reputation as a premier company in the food industry, we believe there needs to be more specific labeling and advertising protocols developed to ensure the rules are clear and application of the rules is equitable."

Tyson said it has already begun designing and ordering new labeling and packaging materials. Packages with the new labels, which will not make any reference to antibiotics, should start arriving at stores within the next six weeks. Some products with the original and qualified labels will continue to be in the marketplace for several months, since they are in frozen inventory and have not yet been placed in a retail meat case, Tyson said.

The qualified label and its predecessor, "raised without antibiotics," sparked outrage from some competitors and led to a lawsuit filed by Sanderson Farms Inc. and Perdue Farms. Both companies said they lost business as a result of Tyson's label change and companion marketing campaign.

In April, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order for Tyson's RWA marketing campaign as part of the aforementioned suit.

Sanderson officials considered Tyson's announcement today a victory. "It's been a frustrating and difficult fight, but we're delighted that Tyson has come to this decision," Sanderson Farms President and Chief Operating Officer Lampkin Butts told Meatingplace.com.

Butts added that it is too soon to tell what will happen with Sanderson Farms' and Perdue Farms' lawsuit against Tyson Foods.

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