Whether it was baked chicken or a grilled steak,
it's likely that the meat you had for dinner last night contained an array of
pharmaceuticals. Alarmed by potential drug resistance in both animals and in
humans, on Monday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration called for more
judicious use of antimicrobial drugs in the production of animals raised for
food.
Antimicrobial drugs were introduced to industrial
farming more than 50 years ago as a way to prevent disease in animals. But the
FDA is concerned that many of the drugs have lost their effectiveness due to
the development of drug-resistant microbial strains. The government agency
wants meat producers to stop using the drugs to boost production and promote
growth.
"Limiting the use of antimicrobials in food-producing
animals only for assuring animal health. Unfortunately, many operations use
antimicrobials to increase production, or to produce larger animals, which
contributes to the misuse of the drugs and raises the possibility of antibiotic
resistance," FDA officials said in a statement.
"The development of resistance to this
important class of drugs, and the resulting loss of their effectiveness as
antimicrobial therapies, poses a serious public health threat," the FDA
said in the statement.
Not surprisingly, the meat industry is unhappy with
the recommendations. The National Pork Producers Council said the FDA
guidelines were too much, claiming they would keep the industry from using
medications to keep their animals healthy.
"There is no scientific study linking
antibiotic food use in food animal production with antibiotic resistance,"
the council said in a statement of their own.
Scientists at the Union of Concerned Scientists beg
to differ. Margaret Mellon, a member of the organization, says the council's
claim is "patently untrue."
"There is a mountain of studies linking the use
of antibiotics in animals to the evolution of resistant pathogens that cause
human disease," she told the Los Angeles Times.
Whatever the case, the brouhaha is all a little
premature. The FDA document isn't a regulation or even a proposed regulation.
The FDA will open a 60-day comment period on this issue, then decide on what
regulations (if any) to impose. In the meantime, if you're concerned about
what's in your meat, organic is always an option. It might be pricier, but it
comes without the pill bottles
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