Chick-fil-A will allow some antibiotics in its chicken, ending 2014′s ‘No antibiotics ever’ pledge

Chick-fil-A is walking back its pledge to stop serving chicken that was fed antibiotics.

In 2014, the fast-food chain announced a five-year plan to stop serving chicken raised with antibiotics. Late last week, Chick-fil-A announced it will shift from “no antibiotics ever” to a more liberal standard– “no antibiotics important to human medicine” or NAIHM.

According to an explanation on the Chick-fil-A website, the NAIHM label restricts the use of antibiotics that are important to human medicine and commonly used to treat people. NAIHM also allows the use of animal antibiotics “only if the animal and those around it were to become sick.”

Chick-fil-A will adopt the NAIHM label this spring.

CNN reports the change comes after Tyson, ended its eight-year-pledge to keep antibiotics out of its chicken. Like Chick-fil-A, Tyson also said it will ensure the chicken it produces is not fed antibiotics that are important to the treatment of humans — a standard recognized by the USDA and the World Health Organization.