Bill would ban nonmedical drug use in U.S. livestock

[ensho]

wonderful news!


http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE52G5UL20090317


Despite growing public support to ban the nontherapeutic use of antibiotics in food animals, a U.S. representative said on Tuesday efforts to move legislation through Congress this year could be met with resistance.

The bill, introduced in the House of Representatives by Louise Slaughter and in the Senate by Edward Kennedy, would ban the use of antibiotics important to human health from being used on cattle, hogs, sheep and poultry unless animals are ill.

Drug manufacturers would be allowed to sell antibiotics for uses other than humans if they can show there is no danger to public health from microbes developing resistance to them.

"We're up against a pretty strong lobby. It will really come down to whether members of Congress want to protect their constituents or agribusiness," said Slaughter. "I do believe the chance are good, at least getting it through the House."
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we must help get this Bill through. and then to the Senate.

[jody]

1. Does that cover steroids that end up in the food chain, e.g. fast food burgers? n/t

[ensho]

2. sure, why not?

nt

[jody]

6. Thanks, IMO that would benefit most of us. n/t

[valerief]

3. Oh, if only this would happen for real! Meat purveyors squawk the cost

of producing meat would go up, but we eat too much damn meat anyway. If they make their meat healthier for consumption, all they need is a good advertising campaign to sell it as gourmet meat. L'Oreal did it. Remember their 'I pay more, but I'm worth it' campaign? No reason why pork and other meats can't become a healthy treat rather than a sickly staple.

Now, if only all the veggies could become organic, too. Hmm. And if only that pancreatic nightmare of HFCS would go the way of the dinosaur, too.

I guess we wouldn't die fast enough for the overlords of the world, though.

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. "An estimated 70 percent of all antibiotics sold in the United States go toward healthy livestock, "

I had no idea...
no wonder big Pharma does not want the law to pass.
Then there is this:
"The concern is that the overuse of antibiotics in animals leads to new strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria."

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

[DeepBlueC]

5. Hoo-rah

That would be a great step forward.

[ensho]

7. this Bill is so important I'm surprised more DUers haven't chimed in

to this thread.

this could stop 9 yr. olds from starting their periods. no more man breasts. etc., etc., etc.

this is just not about antibiotics.

[kestrel91316]

8. Dare we hope for this? As someone who studied microbiology before

veterinary medicine, and having learned a great deal about the unfolding problems of microbial resistance to antibiotics even 30+ years ago, I have ALWAYS felt that the use of such drugs in livestock to "promote growth" and supposedly prevent illnesses we know to be due to improper feeding was irrational at best and dangerous at worst.

Level the playing field NOW! Make the big boys compete with the small and organic producers who know how to feed animals CORRECTLY, in keeping with their biology.

No steroids. No antibiotics unless the animal has an infection. Period.

[Ghost in the Machine]

9. I support the right of livestock to use drugs for recreational purposes..

If cows, pigs or goats want to smoke pot, more power to them...


Oh, wait...