U.S. Representative Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) has sent a letter to more than 60 food producers and retailers, “asking them to disclose their policies on antibiotic use in meat and poultry production.” Citing “decades of research,” the February 16, 2012, letter claims that agricultural antibiotic applications have contributed to drug-resistant disease in humans and seeks to clarify “the extent to which the fast food industry sources its meat and poultry from companies that routinely use antibiotics to raise livestock.” Slaughter, the only microbiologist in Congress, is soliciting information from retailers about their meat and poultry purchasing practices, as well as any efforts to educate consumers about the antibiotics used during food production. In particular, the letter directs recipients to provide details about whether their beef, pork and poultry supplies were produced (i) “without any antibiotics”; (ii) “in a manner that includes antibiotics only for disease treatment”; (iii) “in a manner that…
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a final rule prohibiting the extra-label use of cephalosporin antimicrobial drugs in livestock. Citing “evidence that certain extralabel uses… will likely cause an adverse event in humans,” the agency has specifically barred using cephalosporins (i) “at unapproved dose levels, frequencies, durations, or routes of administration”; (ii) “in cattle, swine, chickens, or turkeys that are not approved for use in that species (e.g., cephalosporin intended for humans or companion animals)”; and (iii) “for disease prevention.” The final rule, however, still permits the use of an older drug, cephapirin, while allowing veterinarians to oversee limited extra-label cephalosporin use “in cattle, swine, chicken, or turkeys as long as they follow the dose, frequency, duration, and route of administration that is on the label.” “We believe this is an imperative step in preserving the effectiveness of this class of important antimicrobials that takes into account…
The European Parliament recently adopted a resolution calling for a ban on most uses of antibiotics in livestock. Noting that “superbugs” take the lives of approximately 25,000 people in Europe each year, the non-binding resolution urges the European Commission (EC) to “make legislative proposals to phase out the prophylactic use of antibiotics in livestock farming.” The European Union already bans antibiotics to boost animal growth, but the resolution addresses the need to prevent disease by keeping veterinary and human medicines as separate as possible. Among other things, the resolution urges the EC to prevent “last resort” antibiotics from being used in animals and allow the drugs only to be administered under licensed conditions combined with resistance monitoring. “The growing ineffectiveness of antibiotics is already a serious problem today and a potential health time bomb in the future,” said the Parliament’s Public Health Committee Chair Jo Leinen. “We need a clear EU…
After a coalition of advocacy organizations filed a lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking an order compelling the agency to rule on 1999 and 2005 petitions that asked the agency to withdraw approval of certain antimicrobial drugs in food animal production, the agency finally acted. Information about the lawsuit appears in Issue 396 of this Update. According to November 7, 2011, letters addressed to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and Environmental Defense, “the Agency has decided not to institute formal withdrawal proceedings at this time and instead is currently pursuing other alternatives to address the issue of antimicrobial resistance related to the production use of antimicrobials in animal agriculture.” FDA contends that withdrawal proceedings can be protracted and consume significant agency resources. While the agency notes that it shares the petitioners’ “concern about the use of medically important antimicrobial drugs in food-producing animals for…
According to the Organic Trade Association (OTA), Ohio has decided not to pursue regulations that would prohibit dairy producers from including on their labels statements that organic dairy products are made without antibiotics, pesticides or synthetic hormones. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals determined in September 2010 that those parts of the rule involving hormone-free statements violated the First Amendment and remanded the action to the federal district court for further development of the record as to the rule’s ban on composition claims related to antibiotics and pesticides. More details about the court’s ruling appear in Issue 366 of this Update. The trade group stated, “Ohio has now agreed to abandon the rule rather than trying to revive it, recognizing that the First Amendment allows organic dairy products to proudly state that they are produced in accordance with organic standards without the use of synthetic growth hormones, pesticides, or antibiotics.”…
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a September 2011 report claiming that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have failed to obtain credible data on the use of antibiotics in food animals, as well as the presence of resistant bacteria in animals and retail meat. After examining the extent to which U.S. agencies have addressed this area of concern, GAO apparently found major gaps in the information needed to understand how livestock antibiotics can contribute “to the emergence of resistant bacteria that may affect humans.” In particular, the report faulted the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for failing to adequately monitor a 2010 voluntary strategy designed to limit “approved uses of antibiotics” and increase “veterinary supervision of use.” According to GAO, “FDA does not collect the antibiotic use data, including the purpose of use, needed to measure the strategy’s effectiveness.”…
A recent study has claimed that after adopting organic practices and ceasing the use of antibiotics, large-scale poultry farms had “significantly lower levels” of antibiotic-resistant and multidrug resistant (MDR) Enterococcus than their conventional counterparts. Amy Rebecca Sapkot, et al., “Lower Prevalence of Antibiotic-resistant Enterococci On U.S. Conventional Poultry Farms That Transitioned to Organic Practices,” Environmental Health Perspectives, August 2011. Researchers apparently sampled poultry litter, feed and water “from 10 conventional and 10 newly organic poultry houses in 2008,” finding that the percentages of resistant E. faecalis and resistant E. faecium “were significantly lower (p<0.05) among isolates from newly organic versus conventional houses for two (erythromycin and tylosin) and five (ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, nitrofurantoin, penicillin and tetracycline) antimicrobials.” They also reported that 42 percent of E. faecalis isolates and 84 of E. faecium isolates from conventional poultry houses were multidrug resistant, compared to 10 percent of E. faecalis isolates and 17 percent of E. faecium…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has issued a public health alert “due to concerns about illnesses caused by Salmonella Heidelberg that may be associated with the use and consumption of ground turkey.” According to FSIS, an epidemiological investigation led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state health departments has linked an estimated 77 illnesses in 26 states to a Springdale, Arkansas, plant operated by Cargill Meat Solutions Corp., which voluntarily recalled 36 million pounds of ground turkey produced between February 20 and August 2. “The outbreak strain of Salmonella Heidelberg is resistant to several commonly prescribed antibiotics; this antibiotic resistance may increase the risk of hospitalization or possible treatment failure in infected individuals,” stated an August 4, 2011, CDC investigation update. “Consumers should check their homes for recalled ground turkey products and not eat them; restaurant and food service operators…
A bipartisan group of senators has introduced a bill (S. 1211) aimed at phasing out routine use of antibiotics in food-producing animals. Spearheaded by U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act (PAMTA) is identical to a House bill (H.R. 965) introduced earlier this year by U.S. Representative Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.), who has championed such legislation since 2007. PAMTA “addresses the rampant overuse of antibiotics in agriculture that creates drug-resistant bacteria, an increasing threat to human beings,” Feinstein noted in a press release. The legislation would also (i) “require new applications for animal antibiotics to demonstrate (that) the use of the antibiotic will not endanger public health” and (ii) “not restrict the use of antibiotics to treat sick livestock or to treat pets.” The bill’s provisions would limit agricultural use of seven types of antibiotics identified by the Food and Drug Administration as “critically important…
A coalition of non-profit advocacy organizations has filed a complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), alleging that the agency has unreasonably delayed action on several of its petitions relating to the use of antibiotics in animal feed. Natural Res. Def. Council v. FDA, No. 11-3562 (S.D.N.Y., filed May 25, 2011). The plaintiffs seek orders compelling the agency to “withdraw approval for subtherapeutic uses of penicillin and tetracyclines, unless FDA’s findings are reversed in new administrative proceedings.” According to the complaint, while FDA determined in 1977 that these drugs” have not been shown to be safe,” it never withdrew its approvals for the drugs’ subtherapeutic uses. Contending that “misuse and overuse of antibiotics has given rise to a growing and dangerous trend of antibiotic resistance,” the coalition alleges that some of its organizations filed citizen petitions in 1999 and 2005 requesting that FDA “withdraw approvals…
