According to federal regulators, sales of medically important antibiotics in the US authorized to be used in livestock has increased by 23 percent between 2009 and 2014. This has raised a great deal of concerns regarding the risks to humans from antibiotic-resistant bacteria. According to the US Food and Drug Administration in 2014, domestic sales and distribution of such drugs rose by 3 percent.
This action of using antibiotics in livestock has been greatly criticized by public health advocates they have debated that it is contributing towards the increase of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Agribusinesses defend the practice as necessary to help keep cattle, pigs and chickens healthy and to increase production of meat for US consumers.
“Dangerous overuse of antibiotics by the agricultural industry has been on the rise at an alarming rate in recent years, putting the effectiveness of our life-saving drugs in jeopardy for people when they get sick,” said Avinash Kar, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council.
According to FDA data, about 80% of the antibiotics used in the US are for livestock. But more food outlets are pledging to reduce or do away with antibiotic use in animals. Last year, Panera Breads said it would cut back on giving its pork supply antibiotics.
The restaurant has used antibiotic-free chicken since 2004. Perdue Foods also said in 2014 that it would no longer use human antibiotics in its chicken hatcheries. Five years ago, Perdue used human antibiotics in all of its chickens. The company has said that it has stopped feeding the drugs to animals to make them grow faster, and it now uses them only to treat or control disease.
Meanwhile, the White House said on Tuesday it will request federal agencies to begin purchasing meat that is produced with “responsible antibiotic-use.” Earlier in the week, California based poultry giant Foster Farms said it would stop using all antibiotics in its chickens that are used to combat infection in humans.
At least one report states that germs from humans are passed on to animals, where they become drug resistant and then are passed back to humans. Public health officials already are urging for the reduction of antibiotic use, due to rising fears of anti-drug resistance from the deadly superbugs that kill about 23,000 people in the US each year.
Sales does not equal use and use is not the same thing as resistance,” said Ron Phillips, spokesman for the Animal Health Institute, which represents drug companies including Zoetis, Merck Animal Health and Eli Lilly and Co’s Elanco Animal Health.
“FDA also tracks resistance pathogens in humans, animals and meats,” he said, “and those trends have been largely encouraging.”
The increased sales of antibiotics approved for use in livestock in 2014 are “disgraceful since it came after the FDA issued voluntary guidance they claimed would actually reduce the use of antibiotics in agriculture,” said US Rep. Louise Slaughter, a Democrat of New York.
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