Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch, commented: “We welcome the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recommendations regarding antibiotics in factory farms released today in its report. The link between sub-therapeutic use in food animals and antibiotic-resistance in humans is clear, and we must follow through on the Center’s recommendations to stop the misuse of antibiotics in farm animals.

“Right now, 80 per cent of the antibiotics used in the US are used for industrial agriculture, and most of these drugs are routinely fed to animals to make them grow faster and compensate for filthy conditions. This is done to help the meat industry execute on its highly consolidated business model for profit. And the American public pays through antibiotic-resistant infections.

“This CDC report should be a wake-up call for our decision makers. For decades, the Food & Drug Administration has failed to regulate this industry’s use of antibiotics. That’s why Congress must now pass legislation - the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act in the House and the Prevention of Antibiotic Resistance Act in the Senate - that would stop the abuse of medically important antibiotics on factory farms.”

Further Reading

Go to our previous news item on this story by clicking here.