The majority of antibiotics in the United States are used on livestock. Many blame the indiscriminate use of antibiotics by “Big Meat” for the rise in antibiotic-resistant bacteria. In spite of Federal Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines meant to combat this problem, it persists, Senior Staff Scientist at Consumers Union Dr. Michael Hansen told me recently.
Announced in late 2013, the FDA guidance asked drug companies selling livestock antibiotics to voluntarily restrict sales by changing the approved uses appearing on labels.
Antibiotics are given to healthy farm animals because they make animals gain weight with less food, but are increasingly indicted for fostering antibiotic resistant bacteria. Though the new FDA guidance required drug companies making livestock antibiotics to remove “growth production” from the label, the drugs are still routinely used for the new indication of “disease prevention,” Hansen told me.
