Big changes are coming to the chicken at Chick-fil-A, here's what to expect next time you order your favorite sandwich

Chick-fil-A will be changing their cooking pledge starting this spring and it will have a big impact on the brand's famous chicken. 

Like Tyson Foods, Chick-fil-A will stop its promise in providing antibiotic-free chicken at all the chain's locations.

According to a statement released by Chick-fil-A on March 25, the restaurant will soon begin to shift from No Antibiotics Ever to No Antibiotics Important to Human Medicine.

'NAE means no antibiotics of any kind were used in raising the animal,' read the statement.

'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.'

Chick-fil-A's chicken will continue to not have any artificial preservatives, steroids and added hormones.

Chick-fil-A released a statement on March 25 saying that they would shift from No Antibiotics Ever to No Antibiotics Important to Human Medicine in spring 2024

Chick-fil-A's chicken will continue to not have any artificial preservatives, steroids and added hormones

No Antibiotics Important to Human Medicine restricts the use of those antibiotics that are important for human medicine that's used to treat people

Chick-fil-A first made its no antibiotics pledge in 2014.

However, according to NBC, chicken farmers were forced to turn to antibiotics after an avian-flu outbreak in poultry supplies began in 2022.

Chick-fil-A's change comes less than a year after Tyson Foods announced the company was ending its 'no antibiotics pledge.'

'We base our decisions on sound science and an evolving understanding of the best practices impacting our customers, consumers and the animals in our care,' a spokesperson for Tyson Foods told the Wall Street Journal in 2023.

According to Chick-fil-A's statement, the fast food chain has been dedicated to quality and their 'commitment to the high-quality chicken' that consumers expect from them come from three things. 

Chicken farmers began turning to antibiotics following an avian-flu outbreak in poultry supplies starting in 2022

Chick-fil-A is highly selective about the chicken that is served at all of the restaurant locations.

'Quality has always been our approach to food,' their statement read. 

'And because chicken is at the center of our menu, we serve only real, white breast meat with no added fillers, artificial preservatives, or steroids.'

The restaurant chain sources their chicken from US farms and follow Animal Wellbeing Standards.

Other than being hatched, raised and harvested in the US, the chickens must be in climate-controlled barns and raised with proper nutrition.

The restaurant chain continues to consult with members of the Animal Wellbeing Council that provide feedback on Chick-fil-A's policies and practices. 

'With their input, we are constantly evaluating our approach to animal wellbeing to ensure it is consistent with or exceeds industry standards,' officials said in the restaurant chain's statement.

Although it's unclear if the Avian Influenza has affected any of Chick-fil-A's suppliers, it's resulted in the slaughtering of 82 million birds in 47 states since 2022.

The restaurant chain sources their chicken from US farms and follow Animal Wellbeing Standards that have been approved by experts

Avian flu, which is also known as bird flu, has impacted more than 7 million chickens in about 40 commercial flocks and 24 backyard flocks.

California was hit especially hard by the outbreak, and it even led to a San Francisco company needing to kill 550,000 egg-laying hens.

'We have wild birds that are are full of virus,' University of California-Davis researcher Rodrigo Gallardo told The Guardian earlier this year.

'And if you expose your birds to these wild birds, they might get infected and ill.'

Thankfully, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have only identified four human infections in the US.

The CDC also confirmed that the current risk of bird flu being spread throughout the general public is low, meaning that Chick-fil-A customers will likely not be affected by the Avian Influenza outbreak.