Livestock, Antibiotics & You

David — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 18:53:39 +0000

Adrianne Doll United States livestock, mainly those animals raised for meat, are fed 28.8 million po

House Bill HR1549 to Limit Antibiotic Use in Meat Production

Garden Tea Co. — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 15:26:53 +0000

Over 300 organizations representing health, consumer, agricultural, environmental, humane and other interests including the American Medical Association, the American Public Health Association, the National Association of County and City Health Officials, and the National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture, have supported an enactment of legislation to phase out non-therapeutic use of medically important antibiotics in farm animals. This has also drawn the attention of Steve Ells, CEO of the Chipotle restaurant chain. Ells traveled to Capitol Hill this week to show his companies support for a bill to limit the subtherapeutic use of antibiotics in meat production.

Subtherapeutic usage of antibiotics is the use of antibiotics for anything except for sickness. As defined by the House Bill entitled, the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act (PAMTA, HR 1549) the “nontherapeutic’ use…means any use of the drug as a feed or water additive for an animal in the absence of any clinical sign of disease in the animal for growth promotion, feed efficiency, weight gain, routine disease prevention, or other routine purpose” This is a widespread practice amongst a large percentage of meat producers. In-fact 70% of the antibiotics sold in the US are used on animals as a preventative measure, to increase weight gain, and to compensate for close quarters and unsanitary conditions. According to estimates by the Union of Concerned Scientists, “50 million pounds of antibiotics – nearly 70 percent of all antibiotics sold in the U.S. – have been used in food animals for purposes other than treating disease.”

This practice has resulted in bacterial mutations and resistance to once useful antibiotics, creating lethal superbugs that may pose a greater risk to human health. Resistant pathogens travel from humans to animals via food handling, food consumption, animal handling, as well as through soil and water contamination. There is compelling evidence that the widespread usage of antibiotics in agriculture has diminished the effectiveness of antibiotics in human medicine. A 2002 analysis of more than 500 scientific articles and published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases found that “many lines of evidence link antimicrobial resistant human infections to foodborne pathogens of animal origin.” The Institute of Medicine’s 2003 report on Microbial Threats to Health concluded “Clearly, a decrease in the inappropriate use of antimicrobials in human medicine alone is not enough. Substantial efforts must be made to decrease inappropriate overuse in animals and agriculture as well.”

The Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act (PAMTA, HR 1549) sponsored by Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) intends “To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to preserve the effectiveness of medically important antibiotics used in the treatment of human and animal diseases.” Rep. Slaughter’s bill, states “The purpose of this Act is to preserve the effectiveness of medically important antibiotics used in the treatment of human and animal diseases by reviewing the safety of certain antibiotics for nontherapeutic purposes in food-producing animals”.

The Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act would:

Phase out the non-therapeutic use in livestock of medically important antibiotics;
Require this same tough standard of new applications for approval of animal antibiotics;
Does not restrict use of antibiotics to treat sick animals or to treat pets and other animals not used for food

PAMTA, HR 1549 sites federal interagency studies, medical journals , and even national security to further support the reduction of subtherapeutic use of antibiotics in meat production. According to Rep. Slaughter’s work “Antibiotic resistant bacterial infections increase health care costs by over $20 billion each year and increase societal costs by $35 billion. Two million Americans acquire a bacterial infection during their hospital stay every year, and 70 percent of their infections will be resistant to the drugs commonly used to treat them. As a result, every day thirty-eight patients in our hospitals will die of those infections.”

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has shown a level of concern with antibiotic usage in agriculture by releasing guidance that recommended the end of the use of antibiotics for growth promotion (download guidance). The FDA’s recommendation is a step in the right direction. However; many in support of PAMTA acknowledge that it is not strong enough to protect the health of American families. A National Academy of Sciences report states that, “a decrease in antimicrobial use in human medicine alone will have little effect on the current situation. Substantial efforts must be made to decrease inappropriate overuse in animals and agriculture as well.”

Show your support by contacting your US Congressional Representative. Click here for a Directory of US Congressional Representatives

View a full list of organizations endorsing PAMTA here…

Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) happens to be the only microbiologist in Congress. Read more on Rep. Slaughter here…

Chipotle CEO Urges Congress to Limit Ag Antibiotics. BY HELENA BOTTEMILLER | DEC 15, 2011 as posted to FoodSafetyNews.com

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Livestock, Antibiotics & You

House Bill HR1549 to Limit Antibiotic Use in Meat Production

Obama Backs Bill to Ban Prophylactic Antibiotics

Antibiotics in Your Organic Lettuce and Other Tales from the Factory Farm