antibiotics
Pew: Loopholes allow “injudicious” livestock antibiotics use
The FDA program to phase out use of antibiotics as a growth promotant in food animals "may allow some injudicious uses to persist," says the Pew Trusts' Campaign on Human Health and Industrial Farming.
Lawsuit challenges FDA on drug used to fatten food animals
A lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco challenges FDA approval of several ractopamine-based animal drugs. The Humane Society of the United States, the Animal Legal Defense Fund and the United Farm Workers union says...
Grocery chain is asked to use its leverage to save antibiotics
Grocery chain Trader Joe's should help preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics by putting stricter standards on its meat suppliers, says Consumers Union.
Antibiotics may help disease spread in infected animals
Research into mice infected with salmonella, a bacteria often the cause of food-borne illness, poses "ominous questions about the widespread, routine use of sub-therapeutic doses of antibiotics in livestock," says the Stanford Medical School.
Pork group uses social media to shape views on antibiotics
The farmer-funded National Pork Board "will use an online marketing campaign to counter a critical television documentary on antibiotics use in livestock," says Reuters.
Antibiotics for livestock up 16 percent in three years
Livestock producers boosted their use of antibiotics by 16 percent from 2009-12, federal data indicated. More than 60 percent of sales and distribution of antimicrobials approved for food animals in 2012 were medically important antibiotics that are central to a campaign against the rise of drug-resistant disease and infections in humans.
Brown vetoes antibiotics bill, says “more needs to be done”
California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed a proposed first-in-the-nation state law to reduce antibiotic use in livestock and told legislators, "More needs to be done to understand and reduce our reliance on antibiotics." In his veto message, he said state agricultural officials would work with lawmakers to find "new and effective ways to reduce the unnecessary antibiotics used for livestock and poultry."
Poultry firms use more antibiotics in feed than thought
After examining feed tickets for five major poultry companies, Reuters says U.S. poultry producers "are administering antibiotics to their flocks far more pervasively than regulators realize, posing a potential risk to human health." The FDA launched an initiative last year to end the practice of mixing small amount of antibiotics into livestock rations to encourage food animals to gain weight.
Netherlands cuts deeply the use of antibiotics in livestock
Gerbert Oosterlaken, a Dutch hog farmer, says in a Modern Farmer story, “I don’t need to take antibiotics every day. There’s no reason my pigs should either.”
Antibiotic-resistant genes are everywhere, it seems
Researchers say they found antibiotic-resistant genes in all 71 areas they checked around the world. The results "add to evidence showing just how common and abundant those resistance genes really are in natural environments," says Cell Press.
Consumer Reports objects to organic food exemptions
Americans believe USDA's organic label on food means no antibiotics and no synthetic pesticides were used in producing the food, says Consumer Reports in objecting to exemptions to those general rules.
Canada to phase out nonmedical antibiotic use in livestock
Health Canada announced a three-year phase-out of subtherapeutic use of antibiotics in food animals, a step that parallels U.S. action.