“Misuse of antibiotics could result in selection for resistant bacteria”. This gentle warning mentioned by the inventor of antibiotics, Sir Alexander Fleming, seems to have lost its meaning over the course of years. Antimicrobial resistance is a growing public health concern; antibiotics used in factory farmed animals raised for human consumption contributes to this problem. Scientific evidence confirms that by the consumption of meat that contains antibiotic-resistant microbes, some antibiotic resistant bacteria are transferred from animals to humans ("GAO"). Factory farming has its benefits, but issues arise due to the overuse of antibiotics in factory-farmed animals, and this essay aims to propose a solution by analyzing Denmark’s successful antibiotic banning policies.
Factory farming is a necessary component of our modern food production and supply system. In 2005, the U.S. produced 45.7 billion pounds of red meat. It efficiently produces and distributes huge quantities of food to feed the growing population of America. But the overfeeding of antibiotics in the U.S. meat industry has gotten to the extreme and it calls for a drastic change in order to prevent a potential public health crises.
When bacteria are frequently exposed to antibiotics it can become resistant to the drug so that it is no longer effective in treating a specific illness (Visser). To compensate for unhygienic environments and to accelerate growth, antibiotics are often given to food animals in the U.S. In 2011, 29.9 million pounds of antibiotics were sold in America for meat and poultry production ("Record"). Many of the types of antibiotics used in food animal production is also used in human medicine, and according to the WHO, “widespread use of antim...
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Rogers, Laura. "What Can Danish Hogs Teach Us About Antibiotics?." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 13 Oct. 2009. Web. 23 May 2014. .
Visser, Nick. "After Fears Of Antibiotic Resistance, 25 Drug Companies To Phase Out Use In Livestock." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 27 Mar. 2014. Web. 20 May 2014. .
Nestle, Marion. Safe Food: Bacteria, Biotechnology, and Bioterrorism. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2003.
Resistance arises from mutations that are not under the control of humans, but the evolution of bacteria has been sped along by the overexposure of antibiotics to both people and animals. The number of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria in an area is closely related to the frequency that antibiotics that are prescribed (Todar, 2012). Patients often unnecessarily demand antibiotics to treat common colds or simple illnesses that are not caused by bacteria. Instead, these infections are caused by viruses which, unlike bacteria, are unaffected by antibiotics. Incorrect diagnosis can also lead patients to using unnecessary antibiotics, which can sometimes be even more dangerous than otherwise left untreated. Besides the fact that antibiotics kill off beneficial bacteria in the intestines, misuse of antibiotics provides an opportunity ...
A growing issue in the world today is the use of antibiotics and growth hormones in animal production industry. However, for over sixty years Americans have been exposed to hormones on a regular basic when they consume beef. (Organic Consumer Association) On average eighty percent of all feedlot cattle are given hormones to help them grow at an increased rate. (Communication Foundation) “In 1988 the European Union banned the use of all hormone growth promoters.” (Organic Consumer Association)
A growing issue in the world today is the use of antibiotics and growth hormones in animal production industry. However, for over sixty years Americans have been exposed to hormones on a regular basic when they consume beef. (1) On average eighty percent of all feedlot cattle are given hormones to help them grow at an increased rate. (2) “In 1988 the European Union banned the use of all hormone growth promoters.” (1)
However, health concerned organizations want to ban the use of these products due to the increasing fears that they can cause harm to the consumers. For over 50 years, antibiotics have been added to the food of animals such as poultry, cattle and pigs. The main purpose for doing so is to lower the risk of disease in animals. Farm animals are housed together in overcrowded areas, which are very dirty. The hygiene level can get to such a poor state that they are often in contact with their own excreta as well as excreta of the other animals they are housed with and because of tight single air space they share, the likelihood of catching diseases from one another is further increased and very often a whole heard can be infected at one time.
...l production, and to expand animal agriculture research. The evidence of antibiotic resistance from sub-therapeutic antibiotics supports the need to eliminate this practice. In spite of farmers and pharmaceutical companies losing money, it is in the best interest of society to ban the practice of giving animals sub-therapeutic levels of antibiotics in their feed. Increasing the research on the effects on the environment caused by the large animal feed lots is a large epidemiologic undertaking that should be seen through. In an effort to protect antibiotics and reduce antibiotic resistance, the overall use of antibiotics should be limited to only medically significant situations, drugs should be used more selectively, better sanitation practices should be used throughout the production process, and the enforcement of bans and limitations must be followed through.
The most effective way to combat pathogenic bacteria which invade the body is the use of antibiotics. Overexposure to antibiotics can easily lead to resistant strains of bacteria. Resistance is dangerous because bacteria can easily spread from person to person. Simple methods for preventing excessive bacterial spread are often overlooked. Not all preventative measures are even adequate. Doctors and patients often use antibiotics unnecessarily or incorrectly, leading to greater resistance. Antibiotics are used heavily in livestock and this excessive antibiotic use can create resistant bacteria and transfer them to humans. In order to reduce resistant bacteria,
Meat cultivation uses more land, water and resources to house, transport, and slaughter animals and their grain and food than it would cost to fund in vitro meat studies. In April 2008 the In Vitro Consortium first met at the Norwegian Food Research Institute. The consortium is “an international alliance of environmentally concerned scientists striving to facilitate the establishment of a large scale process industry for the production of muscle tissue for human consumption through concerted R&D efforts and attraction of funding fuels to these efforts. ”Meat in both its production and its consumption has a number of destructive effects on not only the environment and humans but also live stock. Some of these effects are antibiotic resistant bacteria due to the overuse of antibiotics in livestock, meat-borne pathogens (e. coli), and diseases associated with diets rich in animal fats (diabetes).
All of the statistics were used in this section. I was left wishing there had been more information and determination for the steps leading up to the European Union deciding not to use antibiotic fed meat. I’m sure there is more information as they most likely did studies of their own to make that decision.
“An interesting byproduct of the newer solutions to medical dilemmas is the slowly growing resistance of antibiotics in bacteria (“Externalities”, 2016)”. The person who is affected by the negative externality concerning the use of antibiotics by others will see it as lowered utility: either subjective displeasure or potentially explicit costs, such as higher medical expenses in the future to treat infections that could have otherwise been treated easily at a lower cost (Ditah, 2011). In order to mitigate antibiotic resistance, healthcare workers should stop prescribing antibiotics unless it’s truly necessary. Additionally, the government should make more of an effort to tackle antibiotic resistance. People should also be educated about how overuse is
Category 3 David A. Kessler (The New York Times). Antibiotics and the Meat We Eat
It is estimated that over one-half of the antibiotics in the U.S. are used in food animal production. The overuse of antimicrobials in food animal production is an under-appreciated problem. In both human and veterinary medicine, the risk of developing resistance rises each time bacteria are exposed to antimicrobials. Resistance opens the door to treatment failure for even the most common pathogens and leads to an increasing number of infections. The mounting evidence of the relationship between antimicrobial use in animal husbandry and the increase in bacterial resistance in humans has prompted several reviews of agricultural practices by scientific authorities in a number of countries, including the US.
“Overuse of the drugs in health care and farm animals has increased antibiotic resistance and could contribute to thousands of deaths each year among patients having colorectal surgery, chemotherapy or hip replacements” (YaleGlobal Online). Antibiotics are medicine that can either help bacteria grow or destroy the bacteria. The way antibiotics can help the bactira grow is by the overuse of it. Today, many of the farmers throughout the United States of America mix their livestocks food with antibiotics. Farmers should be banned from mixing their livestock’s food with antibiotics because antibiotics are bad to the humans, antibiotics are unnecessarily and not used right, and antibiotics are dangerous.
Ten billion animals are raised for dairy, meat and eggs every year. Cows, chickens, turkeys and pigs are the most common animals to live in these farms. The animals are injected or fed antibiotics and hormones to maximize their growth and prevent disease. Harmful proceeders are preformed on the animals during their short lives and while they are killed. “Since these animals live in such close quarters, some farm operators remove the beaks of chickens, turkeys and ducks to keep them from pecking one another to death, often by burning or cutting the beaks off” (Phillips).
CDC Office of Infectious Diseases (OID) (2013). Antibiotic Resistance Threats in the United States. [online] p.15. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/threat-report-2013/pdf/ar-threats-2013-508.pdf#page=5 [Accessed 17 Oct.