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30-Second Summary
Headline Link: ‘Politics of the Plate: Drugs, Superbugs, and Good Trans Fats’
Reference: 'Retail Meat Consumption and the Acquisition of Antimicrobial Resistant Escherichia coli Causing Urinary Tract Infections’
Background: Effect of antibiotics in food supply questioned
Related Topic: McDonalds reduces antibiotics in meat
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Pork, Poultry Linked to Antibiotic-Resistant Infections
by
findingDulcinea Staff
New research suggests that a diet high in pork and poultry can make women susceptible to antibiotic-resistant urinary tract infections.
30-Second Summary
Livestock in America are routinely given antibiotics to treat and prevent illness, and sometimes to enhance their growth. Now scientists have found evidence that might link the drugs given to farm animals to human infections.
Farmers have to stop giving an animal antibiotics for a certain period of time before it is slaughtered, and it is rare for meat to contain these medications in excessive amounts, according to the International Food Information Council.
Nonetheless, groups such as the Union of Concerned Scientists fear that the bacteria in livestock will develop a resistance to even small doses of the drugs. According to the union’s Web site, this scenario poses a “serious danger” to the effectiveness of the antibiotics prescribed to people.
If a person consumes pork with a strain of resistant bacteria and becomes ill, it is theoretically possible that treatment could be much more difficult.
A study recently published in the journal Foodborne Pathogens and Disease analyzed the dietary habits of nearly 100 women. Those who reported consuming more alcohol, pork and chicken tended to experience more antibiotic-resistant urinary tract infections.
Barry Estabrook at Gourmet Magazine urges people to eat only meat and poultry that carry the U.S. Department of Agriculture organic seal or are labeled “no antibiotics added.”
McDonalds tried to limit the use of antibiotics a few years ago by prohibiting its direct suppliers around the world from using them for weight gain.
However, the problem isn’t just with agriculture. Many agree that antibiotics are over-prescribed and improperly used.
Farmers have to stop giving an animal antibiotics for a certain period of time before it is slaughtered, and it is rare for meat to contain these medications in excessive amounts, according to the International Food Information Council.
Nonetheless, groups such as the Union of Concerned Scientists fear that the bacteria in livestock will develop a resistance to even small doses of the drugs. According to the union’s Web site, this scenario poses a “serious danger” to the effectiveness of the antibiotics prescribed to people.
If a person consumes pork with a strain of resistant bacteria and becomes ill, it is theoretically possible that treatment could be much more difficult.
A study recently published in the journal Foodborne Pathogens and Disease analyzed the dietary habits of nearly 100 women. Those who reported consuming more alcohol, pork and chicken tended to experience more antibiotic-resistant urinary tract infections.
Barry Estabrook at Gourmet Magazine urges people to eat only meat and poultry that carry the U.S. Department of Agriculture organic seal or are labeled “no antibiotics added.”
McDonalds tried to limit the use of antibiotics a few years ago by prohibiting its direct suppliers around the world from using them for weight gain.
However, the problem isn’t just with agriculture. Many agree that antibiotics are over-prescribed and improperly used.
Headline Link: ‘Politics of the Plate: Drugs, Superbugs, and Good Trans Fats’
“News about antimicrobial-resistant bacteria in gigantic meat-processing facilities is coming to light much too often for my comfort,” says Barry Estabrook in Gourmet magazine’s Politics of the Plate blog. He mentions another study that found people who work in chicken processing centers were far more likely to have a bacteria-resistant strain of E. coli in their digestive tracts.
Source: Gourmet magazine’s Food Politics blog
Reference: 'Retail Meat Consumption and the Acquisition of Antimicrobial Resistant Escherichia coli Causing Urinary Tract Infections’
Of those 99 women who participated in the study, those who reported eating the most chicken and pork, and drinking the most alcohol, also had urinary tract infections that resisted antibiotic treatment. However, the sample size of the study was relatively small.
Source: Foodborne Pathogens and Disease
Background: Effect of antibiotics in food supply questioned
Federal agents closely monitor how antibiotics are given to animals, according to the International Food Information Council. Farmers must observe a “withdrawal period” in which an animal receives no antibiotics so its system is clear when it is processed. It is rare to find meat or other processed livestock containing a significant amount of antibiotics.
Source: International Food Information Council
PBS’s Frontline examined the antibiotics debate. While no one objects to using antibiotics to treat sick livestock, some oppose the idea of giving animals antibiotics specifically to gain weight, a side effect discovered years ago. Some, such as the Union of Concerned Scientists, worry that bacteria in animals will become resistant to the antibiotics, so if a person becomes ill, the drugs won’t work.
Source: PBS
Antibiotics are overused in agriculture and medicine, says Keep Antibiotics Working, a coalition of groups worried about drug-resistant bacteria. People often ask for and are prescribed antibiotics for viruses and other illnesses that that class of drugs doesn’t actually treat. Also, patients tend to stop taking antibiotics when they feel better, not when the prescription is out. Doing so, says the coalition, can allow the bacteria in your body to become resistant to the medication.
Source: Keep Antibiotics Working
The Web site of the Union of Concerned Scientists states, "Once a storehouse full of medicines such as penicillin and streptomycin could handily fight off most infections from bacteria and other microorganisms. Now, once–vulnerable bacteria have evolved resistance, and many of these drugs are losing their effectiveness. Health experts agree that there is serious danger of losing some of the most precious drugs."
Source: The Union of Concerned Scientists
Related Topic: McDonalds reduces antibiotics in meat
McDonalds has instructed its direct meat suppliers not to use antibiotics unless it is for keeping the herd healthy. Using antibiotics for growth purposes, the global restaurant chain said, is now prohibited. The policy was announced in 2003 and was to take effect by the end of 2004.
Source: The McDonalds Web site
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