FDA Says 29 Million Pounds of Antibiotics Used in Food Animals Last Year

[marmar]

FDA Says 29 Million Pounds of Antibiotics Used in Food Animals Last Year


I was interested to read FoodSafetyNews and learn about the FDA’s new count of the number and pounds of antibiotics used to promote the growth of farm animals used as food.

Because this is the first time the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine has produced such a count, it is not possible to say whether the numbers are going up or down. But the agency is now requiring meat producers to report on antibiotic use so we now have a baseline for measuring progress.

The FDA has been concerned about the use and misuse of animal antibiotics for some time now, so much so that in June it issued guidance on The Judicious Use of Medically Important Antimicrobial Drugs in Food-Producing Animals.

In the Federal Register notice announcing the guidance, the FDA explains:

Misuse and overuse of antimicrobial drugs creates selective evolutionary pressure that enables antimicrobial resistant bacteria to increase in numbers more rapidly than antimicrobial susceptible bacteria and thus increases the opportunity for

individuals to become infected by resistant bacteria. Because antimicrobial drug use contributes to the emergence of drug resistant organisms, these important drugs must be used judiciously in both animal and human medicine to slow the development of resistance. Using these drugs judiciously means that unnecessary or inappropriate use should be avoided….

In regard to the use of antimicrobial drugs in animals, concerns have been raised by the public and components of the scientific and public health communities that a significant contributing factor to antimicrobial resistance is the use of medically important antimicrobial drugs in foodproducing animals for production or growth-enhancing purposes.

The overuse of antibiotics in farm animal production was a key focus of the 2009 report of the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production. Our conclusion: the overuse of antibiotics in animal agriculture is an enormous risk to public health and should be stopped.

The FDA report may be short and issued without comment, but it is a sign that the FDA is taking steps to address this serious public health problem.

By Marion Nestle | Sourced from Food Politics


http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/399612/fda_says_29_million_pounds_of_antibiotics_used_in_food_animals_last_year/

[Kolesar]

1. That is one reason that I do not patronize the beef, chicken, pork or turkey industries

The movie "Food, Inc." tells the story of the beef industry. The critters are fed corn, not grass. Corn gives them indigestion and bacterial infections. And they wade in a slurry of bacterial cow shit.

The solution: spray the finished meat with an ammonia germ killer.

[T Wolf]

2. As someone who has not eaten meat since 1976, and has one vegan daughter, this

does not concern me in the least.

Anyone who thinks this "problem" will be corrected in the near future is sadly naive.

From my perspective, the inefficiency of eating meat should be attacked by any means possible. If people are scared off by the poisons that agribusiness pumps into your Big Mac, so much the better.

[provis99]

4. conditions aren't any better in the vegetable industry.

Outbreaks of food poisoning because of contaminated Mexican tomatoes or diseased California raspberries and blackberries are commonplace,now.

[Lorien]

5. False equivalency. Mad cow and antibiotic resistant diseases are a real threat

to our species now. Yes, things ARE MUCH BETTER for those who do not consume animal products. Especially those who grow their own organic produce and/ or buy locally.

[SpiralHawk]

3. I can feel the toxins right after I eat any of that crap

so I stopped eating the crap a long time ago. Every so often I succumb and make a mistake. And I can always feel the chemical crap of Industrial Food & Big Ag roiling about in my blood and nerves.

Disgustipating.

Eat clean. Eat local.