Meat+Poultry - December 2016 - 14

WA S H I N G T O N

Antibiotic anguish

MEAT+ POULTRY | 12.16 | www.meatpoultry.com

when people take them. CDC Director Thomas Frieden,
MD, said the worst problem is in hospitals, and that more
resistant germs and bacteria are found in human hospitals,
because of this overuse among people.
But while there is ample proof that antibiotic problems
are centered largely in human use, that doesn't get the
animal industry off the hook. The CDC has expressed
great concern about the use of antibiotics in animal
production to promote growth, and said this use should
be phased out. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Center for Veterinary Medicine has also taken steps to
expand the role of veterinarians in managing antibiotics
given to animals used for human food. The meat and
poultry industry supports the FDA plan to increase
veterinary oversight of antibiotic use.
Antibiotics have been used and continue to be used
legitimately to treat health problems in animals. They're
used to treat animals with diagnosed illnesses; control
spread of illness on a farm, ranch or flock during an
outbreak; and take swift action to prevent the spread of
diseases when animals are at risk of getting them.
Groups that oppose the use of antibiotics in foodproducing animals have claimed that the antibiotics used
to treat human illnesses, and those used to treat illnesses
in animals are the same - but that's not true. There is a
very limited overlap in antibiotics used in people and those
used in animals.
But because of the big controversy, even fear of
antibiotics and their use in both people and foodproducing animals, there has been a lot of pressure put
on processors and manufacturers to produce meat and
poultry products that are "antibiotic free" or that make
the claim "no antibiotics - ever." That's despite the need
for antibiotics to be prescribed properly for animal health,
just as they're prescribed legitimately for human health.
Still, some producers want to make these claims. And
if animals have to be treated with antibiotics for health
issues, then they're processed into meat and poultry
products sold without those claims. It puts meat and
poultry processors and manufacturers in a tough position
- on the one hand, they want to care for their animals,
but on the other hand, they want to be able to sell their
food products to consumers who have stronger demands
about what they do and don't want in their food. "There's
no doubt about it, these claims have become a marketing
tool for meat and poultry processors," Alfred Almanza,
deputy under secretary for food safety and acting FSIS
administrator, recently told MEAT+POULTRY.
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On the surface, the growing trend over the past few years
to not use antibiotics in food animals seems simple, at
least in the minds of consumers. Many consumers believe
that the use of antibiotics in chicken, turkey, pigs, lamb or
cows can pose health and safety hazards.
It's pretty obvious that if antibiotics are necessary to
treat illnesses in people - specifically bacterial infections
- then they are just as necessary for the health of animals.
Most pet owners don't have any qualms about giving
antibiotics to their cats and dogs if prescribed by their
veterinarians. And they are just as necessary for the health
of animals used for human food.
But consumers have a lot of
reservations about antibiotics
given to animals used to produce
human food, for a number of
reasons. One is the concern about
overuse of antibiotics that can
result in antibiotic resistance.
Research has shown this is more
of a problem for people than
animals. Antibiotic resistance
seems to occur when they are
overprescribed by physicians for
people. Antibiotics can treat and
destroy bacterial-type infections
- but don't do any good against
viruses or the common cold, for
"There's no
doubt about it, example. Many officials in the
public health community have
these claims
been urging doctors to be careful
when they prescribe antibiotics so
have become
they won't be given for sicknesses
a marketing
where they will have no effect.
tool for meat
But doctors often report to
the
medical associations that
and poultry
they
are pressured by patients
processors."
to prescribe antibiotics even if
- ALFRED ALMANZA
they're not going to do any good.
The Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) says that whenever a person takes
antibiotics, bacteria are killed, but germs that may be
resistant to the drugs may survive, grow and multiply. The
CDC says repeated and improper uses of antibiotics are
primary causes of the increase in drug-resistant bacteria.
In fact, two years ago, the CDC published a new report
called "Antibiotic Resistance Threats in the United States."
In this report, the CDC said that 50 percent of antibiotics
prescribed for people aren't needed and don't do any good

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Meat+Poultry - December 2016

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