Eating organic chicken means paying more at the supermarket, but you get a guarantee with that hefty price tag. The United States Department of Agriculture, or USDA, regulates organic food and labeling. It certifies chicken as organic only if it meets the strict regulations of its National Organic Program. The USDA makes no nutritional claims, but when you eat organic chicken, you know exactly what you're putting in your body.
Regulations
Chicks destined for organic labeling must be raised according to National Organic Program standards from the time they are two-days-old, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. They eat 100 percent organic feed, and may receive vitamin and mineral supplements. Organically-raised chickens don't receive antibiotics. They are kept healthy though vaccines and other preventive measures.
Treatment
Organic chickens must have access to the outdoors, sunlight, fresh air, shade and shelter. They are provided with clean drinking water and enough food for flocks to eat simultaneously without competition, according to USDA regulations. Though healthy chickens aren't medicated, medication can't be withheld if they get sick---even if it means losing their organic status.
Compliance
Poultry producers and handlers have to pass government inspection before labeling their products as organic, according to the USDA. Inspection ensures compliance with National Organic Program standards during every phase of production until the chicken reaches the grocery store or restaurant. Farmers selling less than $5,000 in organic products each year are the only exception. If they adhere to organic farming standards, they can use the word organic, but not the official USDA Organic label.
Benefits
Eating organic chicken decreases your chances of ingesting the arsenic found in non-organic chicken feed. It also limits your exposure to antibiotic-resistant bacteria caused by the antibiotic overuse. Non-organic chicken farmers frequently use both arsenic and antibiotics to fatten the birds. The antibiotics also combat health problems the chickens have from poor living conditions, according to Consumer Reports, but complicate treatment if you get food poisoning.
Precautions
Chickens with natural, fresh, no antibiotics added and free-range labels must meet USDA standards for those terms, but those products aren't organic unless they also have the official USDA Organic label. The federal government forbids the use of hormones in all poultry, according to the USDA, so hormone-free labels mean little.
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