Despite federal authorities’ attempts to curb the widespread use of antibiotics in the food industry, bacteria that cause foodborne illnesses are continuing to develop more resistance to antibiotics, the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) found in a recent study.
To prevent disease and promote growth in animals, the meat industry broadly adds antibiotics into animal feed or injects the drugs directly into livestock. But as the drugs get overused, they lose their effectiveness at inhibiting or killing bacteria. Foodborne bacteria can thus make their way through the food supply chain to the supermarket, where consumers could potentially buy contaminated food.
The CDC estimates that antibiotic-resistant infections from foodborne germs cause about 440,000 illnesses in the country each year.
The federal government is starting to tackle antibiotic resistance by collecting more accurate data on how much antibiotics the food industry uses, and also meeting with food industry representatives to discuss reducing the amount of antibiotics used to raise animals.
But those efforts haven’t halted the advance of the phenomenon.
