A popular American fast food restaurant wants you to `` Eat mor chikin '' without antibiotics . Chick-fil-A Inc. announced plans Tuesday to use chicken raised without antibiotics in all of its restaurants within five years . National and regional poultry suppliers are partnering with the company to stock up . Chik-fil-A wants these suppliers to collaborate with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to ensure the chickens do not receive any antibiotics . `` Since our family business began 67 years ago , we have focused on our customers . It 's why we insist upon using the highest quality ingredients , '' Dan Cathy , president and chief executive officer of Chick-fil-A , said in a statement . `` We want to continue that heritage , and offering antibiotic-free chicken is the next step . '' Chick-fil-A is a privately owned company with 1,700 locations in 39 states and Washington . It deems itself the `` second largest quick-service chicken restaurant chain in the United States . '' The company produced sales of $ 5 billion in 2013 , the announcement said . 7 other chemicals in your food . What 's the big deal about antibiotics ? Antibiotics are used in livestock to prevent disease as well as to assist with growth of the animals . In 2011 , about 29.9 million pounds of antibiotics were sold for meat and poultry production . By comparison , 7.7 million pounds were sold for human use , according to the Pew Charitable Trusts . Chick-fil-A 's announcement comes amid a growing awareness about the problem of antibiotic resistance . The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said that antibiotics in livestock are contributing to the rise of dangerous bacteria . Many antibiotics that farmers give food-producing animals are also used to treat sick humans . The FDA announced a plan in December to phase out certain antibiotics in the food production industry . `` Because all uses of antimicrobial drugs , in both humans and animals , contribute to the development of antimicrobial resistance , it is important to use these drugs only when medically necessary , '' the FDA said on its website . FDA hopes to curb antibiotic use on farms . The National Chicken Council said the Chick-Fil-A move is a `` business decision '' and that many organization members offer poultry lines without antibiotics to provide a choice for consumers . `` Antibiotics are not always used in chicken production ; rather , they are administered to prevent and treat disease , only under the care of a licensed veterinarian , '' said Ashley Peterson , National Chicken Council vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs , in a statement . `` The science shows that responsible and judicious use of FDA-approved antibiotics to treat and prevent disease in livestock and poultry is both safe and effective . '' Companies responding to health concerns . Chick-fil-A has made other changes to its ingredients in recent years , such as removing yellow dye from its chicken soup . The company is also testing the possibility of taking out other food additives , including artificial ingredients in the buns and high fructose corn syrup in dressings and sauces . Those developments , announced late last year , came after food blogger Vani Hari wrote about controversial ingredients in Chik-fil-A 's products . The company responded by inviting her to its headquarters , and Hari posted to her blog in 2012 that she 'd had a four-hour meeting there with company executives . Among the topics covered : The use of antibiotics in their chicken , she said . How 'Food Babe ' helped persuade Subway to remove chemical from bread . Hari also recently launched a petition to get the sandwich chain Subway to remove a chemical called azodicarbonamide , also found in yoga mats and shoe soles , from its breads . Subway announced last week that it was in the process of taking azodicarbonamide out `` as part of our bread improvement efforts . '' In addition , the food blogger has shown her power in the pasta arena . After Hari posted a petition on Change.org , Kraft said in November that it would remove Yellow No . 5 and Yellow No . 6 dyes from some varieties of its Macaroni & Cheese products . The color additives will be nixed from pastas shaped like SpongeBob SquarePants , Nickelodeon 's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and `` How to Train Your Dragon 2 '' from Dreamworks , a company spokeswoman told CNN . Kraft removing artificial dyes from some mac and cheese . Other popular petitions for more healthful products are ongoing . Concerned mother Renee Shutters partnered with the Center for Science in the Public Interest to start a campaign directed at M & Ms . The Change.org petition wants Mars Inc. to stop using artificial dyes in the candies . American mom wants European M & Ms .
Chick-fil-A restaurants working with suppliers . The chain is a privately owned company with 1,700 locations . Antibiotics are used to prevent disease , aid growth . The rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a big concern .