Calling antibiotic resistance in the population a “major public health crisis,” Rep. Slaughter introduced legislation to prohibit the use of antibiotics for sub-therapeutic purposes in food animals.
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One of the causes of antibiotic resistance in humans is the overuse of antibiotics on industrial animal farms. Despite the urgent public health crisis, neither the FDA nor lawmakers have stemmed the overuse of such important medicines for purposes of growth and disease prevention, not treatment. Public Employees For Environmental Responsibility sued for the release of FDA’s records that would demonstrate the effectiveness of the agency’s voluntary approach of phasing out the use of medically important antibiotics on animal farms. Guess what they revealed. 
Last week House Rep. Henry Waxman, the ranking Democrat on the Energy and Commerce committee, announced plans to introduce a new animal antibiotic use legislation. 
The FDA took long-overdue steps towards curbing the overuse of antibiotics in farm animals aimed to preserve effectiveness of antibiotics. Unfortunately, the measures remain voluntary and industry compliance remains to be seen. 
Nearly 35 years ago, the Food and Drug Administration initiated proceedings to withdraw the approval of the subtherapeutic use of certain antibiotics in agricultural animals but it took a Court Order to force the agency to follow through. 
U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an order to restrict unapproved use of cephalosporin class of antibiotics in farm animals. Many, however, are critical of the agency’s decision to regulate a practice that is already in decline. 
The Future of Food conference can be neatly summed up by this timeless aphorism uttered by Mahatma Gandhi: You must be the change you want to see in the world. Let’s get to work! 
PAMTA – the legislation that addresses overuse of antibiotics in the agricultural system, which leads to antibiotic resistance in the human population, is once again introduced by Congresswoman Slaughter. 
New FDA data shows that almost 80% of all antibiotics sold in 2009 were reserved for animal farming. Part two of our series on antibiotic overuse in healthy farm animals examines the response from the FDA and the proposed legislation. Follow the money and you will see that the meat and the GMO industry are inextricably tied. 
The practice of feeding antibiotics to healthy farm animals is widespread among industrial animal farm operators despite warnings of many medical experts. 
Pharma wastes are identified by the EPA “contaminants of emerging concern,” and have been linked to multiple health and developmental problems in aquatic animals. Because of the potency of the drugs and their prevalence in our waterways many believe that their presence may also affect human health and addressing this illegal water pollution needs to be a high priority in our governments. Taking a step in the right direction, the Obama Administration announced on July 14, 2009, that it will seek to ban the routine use of antibiotics on healthy farm animals. With the rise of antibiotic resistant bacteria, such as new strains of staph and strep, and waves of swine flue and the bird flue in recent history, it would seem illogical and dangerous to society as a whole for continuing the practice of feeding healthy farm animals antibiotics simply to encourage rapid growth. |
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