FDA Fails to Reduce Antibiotic Use on Factory Farms
From Ring of Fire:
Antibiotic-resistant superbugs are on the rise in the United States in part due to the use of antibiotics on factory farm animals. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced last December that it was releasing voluntary guidelines for pharmaceutical companies to help phase out the use of antibiotics in factory farming, but a new report by Food & Water Watch reveals that the FDA’s lackluster approach to combating the problem isn’t working.
The report, How The FDA’s Voluntary Guidance Fails To Curb Antibiotic Misuse In Livestock, notes that the FDA’s voluntary guidelines for antibiotic use in farm animals only limit the use of antibiotics for promoting unnatural growth in animals. But factory farms are not advised to stop administering low doses of “preventative” antibiotics to animals.
In the United States, about 80 percent of all antibiotics – medicines designed to combat illness in humans – are used on factory farm animals. The meat industry has used antibiotics to combat the unsanitary, overcrowded conditions in which food animals are forced to live, as well as to promote unnatural growth in animals. The industry is also adamant that the use of “preventative” antibiotics in farm animals is perfectly safe.
You can read the full article here at Ring of Fire.