Cargill this week said independent farms that supply it with turkey would stop giving the birds growth-promoting antibiotics.  The company, which worked with the Agriculture Department to develop a three-part verification standard for its turkey production, said some of its products will be free of growth-promoting antibiotics by Thanksgiving with the rest of its flocks following by the end of 2015.  Antibiotics would still be used to treat illness and prevent disease.

A copy of Cargill’s press release with the announcement can be viewed on the company’s website here.