FDA Approves More Drugs in Meat

The FDA has changed their mind about a ruling passed last summer and is again allowing animals that are raised for food to be laced with a type of antibiotics that is one of the favorites of the food industry. These drugs keep the producer's expenses down by controlling disease, cheapening the cost of feed, and causing the animals to grow to slaughtering size faster.

Sounds like a good plan except for a few glitches. The reason this practice was stopped is because of the danger of antibiotic resistant diseases getting stronger, both in the animals and in the human population. Obviously, this situation has not changed, and is likely worse than it was last year. As the article states, the FDA needed time to review comments about their action, and apparently the lobbyists in the food industry spoke the loudest about this issue. Once again this government agency that is supposed to be looking out for our health has sided with their big business comrades to protect the almighty dollar. The only bright side to this all is that this is another great reason to stop eating meat! Such a choice would help both your health and your budget.


FDA Reverses Decision to Ban Certain Antibiotic Use in Food Animals
By Christian Dobbins

January 21 - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it would allow the use of cephalosporins in food-producing animals, reversing a decision made this summer to ban the practice. The agency's initial decision to ban this class of antibiotics stemmed from fears that excessive use in animals such as cows, swine, and chickens could promote drug resistance in strains of bacteria that also infect people.

Cephalosporins are generally used in livestock feed to promote growth and to treat infectious diseases. Citing the importance of cephalosporin drugs for treating disease in humans, on July 3 the FDA announced a planned crackdown on "off-label" use in animals -- the practice of using the drug for a purpose outside the scope of its approved label. However, agriculture groups and makers of veterinary drugs claim that antibiotics are needed, while others have claimed that the data on the human impact used to support the ban were flawed. On Nov. 25 the FDA revoked its decision, saying it had received a number of comments and needed more time to review them; the agency added that it could still impose restrictions later.

As far back as the 1980s, the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine warned of the dangers of overuse of antibiotics in food animals. In the 1998 report The Use of Drugs in Food Animals: Benefits and Risks, they noted that antibiotic resistance in humans and animals had risen sharply during the last several decades. The report recommended that the federal government form an oversight panel to ensure the appropriate use of antibiotics, and establish a national database to monitor microbe-related illnesses and trends in antibiotic resistance that may result from drug use in food animals.

In 2003 the Institute of Medicine report Microbial Threats to Health: Emergence, Detection, and Response urged FDA to ban the use of certain anti-microbials in animals if those same drugs could be used to treat illness in humans. The recommendation's goal is to reduce the chances of developing drug-resistant organisms in animals that could eventually cause hard-to-treat diseases in people.

http://www.nationalacademies.org/headlines/20090121.html