"No hormones" and "no antibiotics" on meat and poultry are animal-raising claims that USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service approves before the label is used, and both come with conditions. For hormones, the catch is that FDA hasn't approved hormones for poultry, goats, veal calves, mature sheep or exotic species like bison, so a "no added hormones" claim on chicken is true of every chicken. FSIS allows it only with a disclaimer, such as "Federal regulations do not permit the use of hormones in poultry", shown prominently, next to the claim or in type at least a third as tall. FSIS's examples use wording like "Raised Without Added Hormones" or "No Added Hormones Administered". For antibiotics, "Raised Without Antibiotics", "No Antibiotics Ever" and similar claims mean no antibiotics in feed, water or by injection, and FSIS counts ionophores as antibiotics. A claim of no sub-therapeutic antibiotics has to explain itself on the label, that animals get antibiotics only when sick. Poultry claims also need the hatchery's answers, on letterhead, about antibiotics in the eggs and in vaccines given in the egg. In the example below, a pastured chicken farm checks four claims before its labels go in. Below are the rules, the records, the example, and a free checklist.
The short version
- No hormones and no antibiotics are raising claims FSIS approves before use.
- Hormones aren't approved for poultry, goats, veal calves, mature sheep or bison.
- On those, "no added hormones" needs a disclaimer that federal rules don't permit hormones.
- The disclaimer sits by the claim or in type at least a third as tall.
- No antibiotics: none in feed, water or injections; ionophores count.
- "No sub-therapeutic antibiotics" has to say animals get them only when sick.
- Poultry claims add the hatchery's answers on antibiotics in the eggs.
- TaroStack keeps treated animals' meat in its own lot, away from the claim. More below.
The rules
| Rule | Where |
|---|---|
| Approval | Labels with special statements and claims submitted to FSIS and approved before use (9 CFR 412.1) |
| Hormones not approved | Poultry, goat, veal calves, mature sheep and exotic species such as bison, buffalo, elk and deer (FSIS guideline, August 2024) |
| Disclaimer | e.g. "Federal regulations do not permit the use of hormones in poultry", prominent, adjacent to the claim or at least one-third its height (FSIS guideline, citing 9 CFR 317.2(b) and 381.116(b)) |
| Example wording | Raised Without Added Hormones; No Added Hormones Administered; Raised Without Steroids (FSIS guideline) |
| No antibiotics | No antibiotics in feed, water or injections; ionophores count as antibiotics (FSIS guideline) |
| Example wording | Raised Without Antibiotics; No Antibiotics Administered; No Added Antibiotics; No Antibiotics Ever (FSIS guideline) |
| Sub-therapeutic | Explained on the label, e.g. antibiotics only in the case of illness (FSIS guideline) |
| Poultry hatchery | A signed letter on letterhead about antibiotics used pre-hatch, in ovo vaccines and in ovo antibiotics (FSIS guideline) |
| Testing | FSIS strongly encourages a sampling program or third-party certification with testing (FSIS guideline) |
Other raising claims are in pasture raised label requirements and grass fed label requirements. This is general information, not legal advice.
The records
| Record | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Controls | How the animals are kept without hormones or antibiotics from birth, feed formulation included |
| Raising statement | A signed, dated description of how the animals are raised |
| Tracing | How product is traced and kept apart from slaughter through sale |
| Non-conforming animals | What happens when an animal raised for the claim gets sick and is treated |
| Testing | The sampling program and results, if you test |
| Certification | A current certificate, if a third party certifies the claim |
An example: an Ohio pastured poultry farm
Sunday Creek Pastured Poultry, the made-up pastured chicken farm near Nelsonville, Ohio, I use in these examples, checked four claims before its plant submitted the labels:
| Claim | What the label needs | Records | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| No Added Hormones | "Federal regulations do not permit the use of hormones in poultry", beside the claim | Ready | Ready to submit |
| No Antibiotics Ever | The claim as approved | Hatchery letter missing | Records missing |
| Pasture Raised | No extra explanation on poultry | Ready | Ready to submit |
| No Sub-Therapeutic Antibiotics, pork | The full explanation | Not started | Wording and records missing |
The hatchery letter is the gap: the farm buys chicks, so the hatchery has to answer in writing whether it uses antibiotics in the eggs or in ovo vaccines. When a summer flock got sick and a vet prescribed an antibiotic, those birds became the non-conforming case the records describe: processed as their own lot, sold without the claim. The pork claim waits until the pigs it's planned for arrive. How the flocks earn is in chicken business plan.
Get the checklist
Download the raising claims checklist. One sheet: each claim, what it applies to, what the label needs with it, the records behind it, and whether the wording and the records are ready; the status says ready to submit or what's missing. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
A checklist gets the label approved. After that, a treated flock's birds and the claim's birds go into the same freezer, and the claim depends on keeping them apart.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each processing as its own lot, so treated animals' meat stays away from the claim.
Each processing a lot. Birds back from the plant are received as their own lot, with the plant's lot and date, so a treated flock is a different lot from the claimed ones.
Fields of your own. A lot can carry fields of your own, such as "no antibiotics ever: yes" or "treated, sold without claim", so the freezer count shows which is which.
Where it went. Each order records the lots it got, so if a lot has to come back, one recall report shows who got it and what's still in your freezer.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Treated birds kept apart | Labels on bags | Their own lot |
| Which lots carry the claim | Memory | A field on the lot |
| Claimed birds left | Count the freezer | Stock by lot |
| Which customers got a lot | Invoices | One recall report |
Receiving, lots, your own fields, counts and recalls are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.