Yesterday, the FDA came out swinging (with a Wiffle ball bat) against the medically unnecessary use of antibiotics in animal feed (by politely asking the drug companies that make piles of cash off these drugs to please stop selling so many of them to farmers just to encourage tissue growth). To demonstrate just how weak this (in)action is, one need look no further than the enthusiastic response from the nation’s huge meat and drug companies. [More]
antibiotics
FDA Politely Asks Drug Companies To Voluntarily Stop Providing Antibiotics For Animal Feed
By 12.11.13
In the face of numerous reports indicating that the practice of using medically unnecessary antibiotics to bulk up farm animals is leading to millions of people getting sick each year from drug-resistant pathogens, the Food & Drug Administration drew a line in the sand today and put an end to the practi– oh wait, I meant that the FDA has politely asked drug companies to voluntarily phase out sales of these drugs to farmers. [More]
Butterball Doesn’t Know Why Its Fresh Turkeys Aren’t Getting Big This Year
By 11.19.13
When you’re a big-name turkey titan like Butterball and use phrases like “plump and juicy” on your packaging, it’s problematic when your birds don’t grow to the heft you expect in time for Thanksgiving. That’s why the folks at Butterball are looking into this year’s flock of skinnier than usual turkeys. [More]
We Are In The Era Of “Nightmare” Bacteria And Nobody Seems To Care
By 10.22.13 — Updated: 7.17.14
On March 5, 2013, the Centers for Disease Control issued a press released titled “Lethal, Drug Resistant Bacteria Spreading in U.S. Healthcare Facilities.” The warning that followed was dire. Drug-resistant organisms called carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, or CRE, were not only spreading more rapidly through U.S. hospitals, they were becoming more resistant to so-called “last-resort” antibiotics. “CRE are nightmare bacteria,” said CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden. How nightmarish? According to data from the CDC, 1 in 2 patients who contract a bloodstream CRE infection will die. That’s an ominous statistic, but it might not even be the scariest fact about CRE. [More]
CDC: 2 Million Americans Get Sick From Antibiotic-Resistant Infections Every Year
By 9.16.13
While livestock farmers around the country continue to feed medically unnecessary antibiotics to their animals for the sole purpose of encouraging growth, millions of Americans are falling ill — and thousands dying — every year from bacterial and fungal infections that are resistant to current medication, claims a new report from the Centers for Disease Control. [More]
Chipotle Considers Using Beef Treated With Antibiotics
By 8.14.13
Chipotle prides itself on its meat policy of responsibly raised, antibiotic-free beef, chicken and pork. But that could be changing soon, as the burrito chain says it’s considering the idea of allowing cows that have been treated with antibiotics to remain in the supply chain. It’s only thinking about it so far — until now, only sick animals were allowed to be treated and then they had to be removed from the rest of the herd, and not end up in stores. [More]
Trader Joe’s Customers: We Don’t Want Drugs In Our Meat
By 7.25.13
While many grocery store chains carry meat from animals that have been fed unnecessary antibiotics purely for the purpose of encouraging growth, the results of a new survey show that a large majority of all supermarket shoppers — but especially Trader Joe’s customers — would rather that their favorite food store stop carrying the drugged-up beef, pork, and poultry. [More]
Legislation Would Push FDA To Investigate Antibiotic Use In Farm Animals
By 5.8.13
As Americans grow more concerned that the antibiotics being provided to farm animals are resulting in new strains of pathogens that are resistant to these drugs, a group of Senators have introduced legislation that would give the Food and Drug Administration more authority to collect data about this controversial practice. [More]
Bill Seeks To Phase Out Over-Use Of Antibiotics In Farm Animals
By 3.14.13
It’s been almost two years since the FDA asked the farmers of America to pretty please stop pumping up their livestock with antibiotics they don’t need, and yet that amazingly seems to have had no effect. And so today, Congresswoman Louise Slaughter of New York has introduced legislation that would curb the controversial practice. [More]
Trader Joe’s Employees Misleading Customers About The Drugged-Up Meat On Stores’ Shelves
By 2.26.13
Trader Joe’s, like most grocery stores, sells quite a bit of meat from animals that have been treated with completely unnecessary antibiotics. But customers around the country say that some TJ staffers are outright lying about the store’s products being drug-free. [More]
Trader Joe’s Fans Ask Store To Stop Selling Drugged-Up Meat
By 2.14.13
Trader Joe’s has a lot of fans who evangelize on behalf of the food and service at the grocery store chain, but some of those same superfans are asking their favorite food fix to please stop selling meat full of antibiotics. [More]
Why 'Antibiotic-Free' Meat Doesn't Mean What You Think It Does
By 8.30.12
Antibiotic-resistant infections are a serious and scary threat to public health. One reason why devious bacteria are evolving to resist antibiotics is the widespread overuse of them in both humans and in animals. A Center for Science in the Public Interest analysis of Food and Drug Administration data shows that 80% of all antibiotics administered are to animals, and not to help them get better when they’re ill. Meat and dairy producers give low doses to the critters in their care in order to prevent illness, and sometimes to promote faster growth. [More]
Study Links Popular Antibiotic Zithromax To Rare But Deadly Heart Risk
By 5.17.12
Many people use the antibiotic Zithromax, or azithromycin, to treat bronchitis and other common infections. Some surprising results of a 14-year study might turn some off the antibiotic, as it found the risk of sudden deadly heart problems increased with use of Zithromax. [More]
Court Orders FDA To Investigate Use Of Antibiotics In Animal Feed
By 3.23.12
Back in 1977, the FDA proposed a ban on putting penicillin and other antibiotics in animal feed solely for the purpose of promoting growth. Amazingly, that proposal has been gathering dust long enough to begin losing its hair and regretting its life choices. That is until yesterday, when a federal court ordered the FDA to finish what it started 35 years ago. [More]
FDA Bans "Extra-Label" Uses Of Popular Class Of Antibiotics On Farm Animals
By 1.4.12
For those of you who are concerned about the amount of antibiotics being given to the cows, chickens, pigs and turkeys that provide (or end up as) the food on your plate, here’s some good news. The Food and Drug Administration has announced a new regulation that prohibits “extra-label” uses of a popular class of antibiotics. [More]
FDA To Farmers: Enough Already With All The Antibiotics
By 6.29.10
After coming to the conclusion that farmers have gone a little hog-wild with their use of antimicrobials — not to cure animals of disease, but to spur animal growth — the FDA has kindly asked them to cut it out because it’s just going to make the rest of us sicker. [More]
Tyson Chicken Settles Class-Action Suit, Will Pay $4.4 Million To Consumers
By 1.14.10
If you bought Tyson chicken from 2007 to 2009, you may want to start keeping tabs on the new settlement being considered by Tyson to settle the class-action suit against it. The agreement was filed earlier this week, and a review is scheduled for tomorrow. If approved, approximately $4.4 million will supposedly be available to disburse to consumers. [More]
Who's Watching Our Nation's Honey Imports? Pretty Much No One
By 1.27.09
The Seattle P.I. reports that “two-thirds of the honey Americans consume is imported and almost half of that, regardless of what’s on the label, comes from China.” The first problem with that is some Chinese honey is “tainted with banned antibiotics” such as ciprofloxacin and chloramphenicol. The second problem, according to U.S. honey producers who are upset about the lack of oversight, is that whenever contaminated honey is discovered, many companies just sent it back to the importer and never tell the FDA—which means it can be resold elsewhere, including to other U.S. packers.
