Don’t you just hate it when a good thing changes? In the age of shrinkflation, where profit margins are king over providing a tasty and reliable product, it seems all our favorites are shrinking in size or diminishing in quality.
That’s exactly what this woman says happened to her beloved Chick-fil-A.
‘Explain Urself Plz’
In a viral video with more than 421,000 views, TikToker Kristin Schaefer (@kristinschaefer_) takes a bite of what appears to be a Chick-fil-A chicken biscuit with cheese—and immediately looks disgusted.
She sets it down dramatically, wraps it back up in the wrapper, and that’s it.
“Hey @chickfila the chicken wasn’t like this after the 2024 change explain urself plz and thank u <3,” the text overlay on the video reads.
In the caption, she adds that she’s a “loyal customer of 22 years. i know u changed this s—. explain now.”
Actually, Something Did Change In 2024
As it turns out, she’s not imagining things—or at least, she’s not wrong that something changed. In the spring of 2024, Chick-fil-A quietly dropped its decade-long “No Antibiotics Ever” (NAE) commitment and shifted to a looser standard called “No Antibiotics Important to Human Medicine” (NAIHM) across all U.S., Puerto Rico, and Canada locations, NPR reported.
Under the new standard, chickens can receive animal-specific antibiotics if they get sick, while antibiotics used in human medicine remain off-limits. The chain cited supply chain challenges, saying the change was necessary to maintain consistent quality, and shared the update through a press release on its website, leaving many customers in the dark unless they were actively looking for it.
According to The Street, social media has been full of complaints since the change, with customers reporting the chicken feels “heavier, harsher, and harder to digest.”
Some have linked it to stomach issues. It’s worth noting there’s no evidence connecting the antibiotic change to digestive problems, Chick-fil-A is still serving real chicken, and wilder claims about lab-grown meat are unfounded. Still, the complaints kept coming.
What Experts Are Actually Worried About
The bigger concern isn’t necessarily how the chicken tastes. It’s what the shift signals for the industry. NPR spoke with Lance Price, founding director of the Antibiotic Resistance Action Center at George Washington University, who suggested the move was likely economics-driven more than anything else.
“It’s probably just a business decision,” he told NPR, noting that it’s cheaper to use antibiotics than to invest in better conditions for the animals.
The concern is the precedent it sets. Chick-fil-A is one of the biggest names in fast food, and experts told TheStreet that its decisions carry industry-wide weight.
“You take [Chick-fil-A] out of the game and it affects all of the players on the field,” Northeastern University professor Darin Detwiler said. “If a company as big as Chick-fil-A is going to [relax antibiotic standards], then what’s stopping smaller teams, or lesser players in the landscape from saying, ‘Well, if they’re going to do that, then we’re doing it, too.'”
And Chick-fil-A isn’t alone, Tyson dropped its no-antibiotics standard in 2023, and Panera and Subway followed suit in 2024. It’s a quiet industry-wide rollback that most customers never heard about.
@kristinschaefer_ loyal customer of 22 years. i know u changed this shit. explain now#chickfila @Chick-fil-A
Commenters React
“Why did you still chew it,” a top comment read.
“Used to work there, the fries are 100% different and so is the chicken. i used to eat ts EVERYDAY. and now my stomach gets insanely sick if i eat the fried chicken,” a person said.
“The chicken has this weird disgusting taste sometimes. like death,” another wrote.
BroBible reached out to Kristin Schaefer via Instagram and TikTok direct message and to Chick-fil-A via email. We’ll be sure to update this if she responds.