While the value of antibiotics in treating illness has always been clear, the impact of overuse on farms has been debated for some time.
The U.S. Food And Drug Administration has issued guidelines (voluntary) for the use of antibiotics in the agricultural industry;"judiciously" - for treating and preventing sickness. The spike in overuse of antibiotics has led to increases of drug-resistant bacteria - 'superbugs' in animals and humans.
The rules are voluntary for now - I know, in an age where goldfish, Happy Meals and trans fats are regulated by government, something is still voluntary - but the FDA will pick up the issue again in three years.
A 2010 report by the CDC found that more than half of all ground turkey carried E. coli that was resistant to three or more drugs. E. coli causes gastrointestinal infections and sickens about 265,000 people each year, according to the CDC, and activist groups blame antibiotics. The FDA isn't taking a heavy hand (yet) because the science literature is not settled. Low-doses of antibiotics in turkeys knock down salmonella levels, for example.
Activist groups say that the FDA is in the pocket of Big Ag, etc.
"I really don't think there was a public health risk from growth promotion," said Dr. Scott Hurd, former deputy undersecretary, food safety, for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "But on the other side, I think it will remove the black-eye that the industry had."
FDA calls for "judicious" antibiotic use on farms by Beth Marie Mole San Jose Mercury News
