Chick-fil-A recently announced it was going to make the switch from a strict no antibiotics in its chicken policy to only using antibiotics when necessary, like when an animal gets sick. This has fans of Chick-fil-A worried about how the chicken will now taste, so a popular content creator and Chick-fil-A employee, @mirithesiren, hopped on TikTok to explain the “new chicken” while taste-testing it herself.
Another TikToker named Brynn (@brynnboo) tossed her chicken in the trash out of disgust after finding out about the new chicken. So @mirithesiren stitched Brynn’s video.
“By now, you know that Chick-fil-A has announced that they’re now going to be using antibiotic chicken,” she says. “This is not medicine or antibiotics to pump up the chicken, make it bigger, or make it grow faster. Antibiotics will only be used if the chicken was sick or needed help or maybe was around another sick chicken.”
This is exactly what the restaurant says on its website. “NAE means no antibiotics of any kind were used in raising the animal. NAIHM restricts the use of those antibiotics that are important to human medicine and commonly used to treat people, and allows use of animal antibiotics only if the animal and those around it were to become sick,” it says.
The Chick-fil-A worker continues, “They just mean if one of the chickens was sick and it needs to be treated, they’ll treat.”
@mirithesiren then samples a chicken sandwich she bought. After dousing her chicken sandwich in honey-roasted barbecue, she takes a bite and shakes her head nonchalantly. “Same old chicken sandwich,” she says. Afterward, she adds Mayo and bites into it once more. “Super yummy,” she compliments.
In her opinion, it all boils down to location, as she says her location emphasizes quality. “So, it may not be all Chick-fil-A; it may be just your Chick-fil-A,” she states.
The content creator wraps up the video by trying the new Mango Passion Shake.
@mirithesiren Chick-fil-A Antibiotic chicken taste test! @Chick-fil-A #chickfila #antibioticchicken #newchickfilachicken #chickfilaemployee ♬ original sound – mirithesiren
The Daily Dot reached out to @mirithesiren via Instagram direct message and TikTok comment as well as to Chick-fil-A via press email. The TikToker’s video racked up over 357,000 views, and viewers had shared their own thoughts on the “new chicken.”
“Wait i just had it like 10 minutes ago it tastes the exact same???” one viewer questioned.
“Nah i ate chick fil a minis this morning they taste the exact same,” a second stated.
“Had it yesterday, it looked different and tasted a little different idk,” a third remarked.
“I had it like a couple hours ago & ngl mines was a lil rubbery,” a fourth shared.
While it sounds unsettling, using antibiotics in animals is very common and doesn’t mean you will be consuming the antibiotics. Healthline explains that one’s “chance of actually consuming antibiotics through animal foods is extremely low” because “drug withdrawal periods are enforced before treated animals, eggs, or milk are used as food.” This means that the drugs are out of an animal’s system by the time they become food for humans.
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