Antibiotic Use In Poultry & Meat Products

A recently released report concerning consumer safety of antibiotics in meat and poultry products may have raised more questions than it answered, explained Amanda Blair, Associate Professor & SDSU Extension Meat Science Specialist.

 

"Unfortunately this report contains a mixture of misinformation and facts with regards to the use of antibiotics in livestock and poultry production," Blair said. "In fact, this report adds to consumer confusion."

 

The report Blair references is entitled "Chain Reaction - How top restaurants rate on reducing use of antibiotics in their meat supply." Authored by a group of six consumer interest, public health and environmental organizations; the report provides grades to 25 of the nation's largest fast food and fast casual restaurants depending on their 'Antibiotic Use Policy.'

 

"While very few of the restaurants surveyed in the report received high marks, which would indicate that they source a majority of their meat from animals raised without regular use of antibiotics, the report suggests that antibiotic use in animals contributes to the issue of antibiotic-resistant bacteria," Blair said.

 

Blair further explained that the report then maintains that when livestock producers administer antibiotics routinely, it contributes to the "worsening epidemic of resistance" and "that antibiotics may not work when we need them most: when our kids contract a staph infection or our parents get a life-threatening pneumonia."

 

"In essence, this report blamed the U.S. livestock and meat industries for the global problem of antibiotic resistance, implying that misuse of antibiotics in livestock is necessary due to poor management practices," Blair said. "However, years of research have failed to prove that the use of antibiotics in livestock and poultry has resulted in the evolution of bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics and pose a risk to humans."

 

 

When discussing the role of the livestock and meat industries in the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, Blair said there are several important points consumers should keep in mind:

 

A strict withdrawal or "waiting" period is required following administration of an antibiotic before that animal can be processed and enter the food chain. The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service conducts a monitoring program to ensure that no unsafe residues are detected in meat and poultry.

Only 13 percent of antibiotics in the livestock industry are used for growth promotion and the practice is being phased out. At the request of FDA, companies that produce antibiotics for animal use have committed to withdraw their products for growth promotion use by December 2016.

The FDA guidance will also change the classification of "medically important" feed-grade antibiotics from the current over-the-counter designation to the Veterinary Feed Directive designation. Ultimately these medications can still be used for prevention, control and treatment of illness in animals but their use must be approved by a licensed veterinarian; similar to the way human medications are prescribed.

Issues surrounding antibiotic use and development of resistant bacteria are extremely complex and involve both human and veterinary use.

While the media focus tends to be on the use of these drugs in animals, a report in the New England Journal of Medicine by officials from the CDC and IMS Health found that U.S. doctors are prescribing enough antibiotics to treat four of every five Americans every year and concludes that antibiotics are being overused in humans. A 2013 CDC report found that half of the prescriptions given to people are unnecessary.

 

There is limited overlap between the antibiotics provided to humans and those given to animals.

 

 

Graph source: Adapted from: AMI - The facts about antibiotics in livestock and poultry production. Sources: 2011 Summary Report on Antibiotics Sold or Distributed for Use in Food Producing Animals and Drug Use Review, Food and Drug Administration, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, April 5, 2012.