The FDA had started such proceedings in 1977, prompted by its concerns the widespread use in livestock feed of certain antibiotics – particularly tetracyclines and penicillin, the most common. But the proceedings were never completed and the approval remained in place. “In the intervening years, the scientific evidence of the risks to human health from the widespread use of antibiotics in livestock has grown, and there is no evidence that the FDA has changed its position that such uses are not shown to be safe,” Katz wrote.
The facts are hard to ignore.
Using common antibiotics in livestock feed has contributed to the rapid growth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in both animals and humans and contributes to $20 billion in health care costs annually.
A coalition of consumer groups filed a federal lawsuit Friday against the US Food and Drug Administration over the use of human antibiotics in animal feed, citing that it creates dangerous superbugs.
The suit alleges that the regulatory agency concluded in 1977 that the practice of feeding healthy animals low doses of penicillin and tetracycline could lead to the rise of antibiotic resistant bacteria in people.
“Accumulating evidence shows that antibiotics are becoming less effective, while our grocery store meat is increasingly laden with drug-resistant bacteria,” said Peter Lehner, NRDC executive director.
FDA did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.
Last year, the FDA authorities pressed farmers to give fewer antibiotics to livestock and poultry to reduce the risk of potentially harmful resistance to antimicrobial drugs.
Yet FDA officials stressed the drugs could play a key role when used properly.
Factory farming promotes illness for animals who live in filthy and over-crowded conditions and who are fed large amounts of corn which they can not digest which allows them to grow at an unatural and alarming rate causing a host of health problems requiring antibiotic use.
Called New Delhi metallobeta-lactamase, or NDM-1 for short, the enzyme destroys carbapenems, an important group of antibiotics used for difficult infections in hospitals, and has been found in a wide variety of bacterial types.
Although there is no threat to the U.S as of the yet, the developement of new antibiotics to fight superbugs has come to a halt.
If these bugs spread we are certainly at risk for a disaster and a threat to modern medicine as we know it.
Some experts warn health-care provision is in danger of reverting back to a pre-antibiotic era in which hip replacements, care of preterm babies and advanced cancer treatment are no longer possible.
Abuse of antibiotic use in helthcare and livestock has increased superbug resistance to these therapies.
From large amounts of waste to the effects of rBGH and antibiotics in our food supply it may be time to consider the real implications of consuming animal prducts!
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