Overview

When a food animal becomes ill, a veterinarian may prescribe an antibiotic to treat the illness. Since farm animals are raised in groups, sometimes farmers elect to use antibiotics on all animals in a group to prevent and control the spread of illness. These management practices help to ensure food safety.

There is concern that antibiotic use by humans and food animals may result in the creation of drug-resistant bacteria. To prevent resistant bacteria in animals from transferring to humans, the animal health industry, along with health and government organizations, have developed quality assurance programs and judicious antibiotic use guidelines for food animals.

In an expert report released in 2006 by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), the “elimination of certain antibiotics (from food animals) by the European Union has not been shown to have reduced the prevalence of some antibiotic-resistant strains affecting human medicine.” IFT reported that resistance actually increased among some pathogens.

As a marketing niche, some livestock producers promote their products as being antibiotic-free or even organic. Certified organic livestock production prohibits the use of antibiotics, according to USDA’s National Organic Program. Livestock production guidelines also indicate medications and treatments “must be used to restore an animal to health when methods acceptable to organic production standards fail.” Livestock treated with materials that are prohibited by organic standards must be identified and shall not be sold or labeled as organic.
 

Sources

Antibiotics in Livestock, Animal Health Institute.

Institute of Food Technologists

National Organic Program

Other Links

• Antibacterial Resistance & Antibiotic Use in Animals, eXtension, 2010.
• Antibiotics in Livestock, Animal Health Institute - This site explains why antibiotics are used in food animals.
• Antibiotic/Antimicrobial Resistance, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) - This Web site contains CDC’s position on antibiotic use.
• Antibiotic Truths, Straight talk about antibiotic use in food animal production presented by ALPHARMA Inc., Animal Health.
• Antibiotic Use in Food Animal Production, ALPHARMA Inc., 2009.
• Antimicrobial Resistance, U.S. Food and Drug Administration - This Web site provides the U.S. government’s position on antibiotic use.
• Antimicrobial Use & Environmental Exposure are key factors affecting antimicrobial resistant E. coli carriage in children in Peru, John Hopkins School of Public Health, May 3, 2010.
• Eliminating Antibiotics from Food Animals is Unwise, Institute of Food Technologists, 2006.
• Expert Panel Urges Halt to Nontherapeutic Use of Antibiotics on Farms, Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy, University of Minnesota, 2002 - A panel says that antibiotics should only be used to treat sick animals and to protect healthy animals threatened by disease.
• FDA Releases Government Data on Antibiotic Use in Food Animals, VIN News Services, December 9, 2010.
• Food Safety Research Information Office, National Agricultural Library, USDA - This Web site provides links to fact sheets and other resources on this topic.
• Is Your Meat Safe? Frontline, PBS, 2002 - This program included segments on antibiotic use in the meat and poultry industry.
• Pew Report Urges Limiting Antimicrobial Use in Animals, Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, University of Minnesota, 2008.
• Preserving the Benefits of Antibiotics for People & Animals, Federation of Animal Science Societies.
• What is Antibiotic Resistance and Why is it a Problem?, Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics (APUA) - Based at Tufts University, this organization is dedicated to promoting proper antibiotic use and curbing antibiotic resistance worldwide.

Checked December 2010.