Antibiotic Free Programs:

No Antibiotic Growth Promotants/No Sub-Therapeutic Antibiotics

Organic:

Marx Imports does not distribute any meat or poultry programs that administer antibiotics as growth promotants. This is in contrast to some commodity meats in the US (for example, most feedlot beef) that are raised with antibiotics included in the feed to promote faster growth and prevent illness.

Here are the different standards we include within this designation:

No Antibiotic Growth Promotants/No Sub-Therapeutic Antibiotics

Different programs use different forms of this language, but the meaning is the same: their animals are only ever given antibiotics to treat illness, but never for growth promotion. After treatment there is a mandatory waiting period before the animal can be processed in order to ensure there is no antibiotic residue in the meat.

Because many of these programs are also cage free/free range/pasture raised, the incidence of illness is much lower than commodity programs because the animals have room to live in a more natural manner. So therefore, antibiotic use is rare.

Certified Organic

USDA Organic standards require that animals given antibiotics be removed from an Organic program entirely (they’re typically rotated into a conventional program).