Antibiotics in Food Animals
Imagine a world in which there was no antibiotics to treat the
causes of many illnesses like diarrhea, the flu, pneumonia, or chlamydia. You’re
sick, but now you’re really sick thinking about how you’re going to get better
with no medical help. This could be the case for our future. More and more
corporate farmers are turning to antibiotics to treat problems in food animals
that we eat. These aren’t any antibiotics, but the same ones used in animal
production are being administered to humans. It’s a problem many scientists and
medical personnel have spoken out about, yet the practice only seems to grow. In
determining whether the practice is safe, there will be responses to the
following questions:
1.
What
are the risks in consuming food animals treated with
antibiotics?
2.
What
antibiotics are being used for food animals in comparison to human
antibiotics?
3.
What
are alternative practices that can be substituted for antibiotics that do not
pose any threats to humans?
Treating food animals with antibiotics alone and with no
economically viable alternatives could be a growing threat to the population. Is
there an alternative?
According to The Use of Drugs in
Food Animals:
Most drugs used in food animals have a specific purpose: to
treat cuts and abrasions, to enhance growth, to fight parasites. Antibiotics are
among the few classes of drugs used in food animals both therapeutically to
treat disease and sub therapeutically to increase production performance, to
increase efficiency of use of feed for growth or product output, and to modify
the nutrient composition of an animal product. (p. 4)
In comparison, The
Antibiotic Paradox states“The bulk of antibiotics produced in the United States are consumed
in the treatment of humans and to promote growth and control infections in food
animals” (Antibiotic Paradox, 1992, p.157). Thus, a great deal of our
antibiotics is used for veterinary purposes in connection with uses for humans
and the practice ultimately provides sanitary conditions and healthy food
animals for our food markets. The fact is more are being used for food animals
than for humans, which makes the threat of a strand of resistant bacteria more
prevalent.
What are the risks in consuming food animals treated with
antibiotics?
Antibiotics in animals range from topical antiseptics to hormone or
hormone enhancers with five major classes of drugs being used altogether (Drugs
in Food, 1999, p.2). With many forms of drugs being used as well as the same
that are being used for humans, concerns tend to arise. The main concern is a
strand of antibiotic resistant bacteria being produced that affects humans on a
population level. This is the greatest risk and concern when dealing with this
practice. According to The Use of Drugs
in Food Animals, “…drugs used in food-animal production and residues of
those drugs could enter human food and increase the risk of ill-health in
persons who consume products from treated animals” (p. 2). In the Poultry
Science Journal on Prebiotics, Probiotics, and other Alternatives to Antibiotics
in a section titled “The Dilemma” (2011), “The growing number of incidences of
antibiotic resistance has been hypothesized to be directly related to the
overuse, and sometimes unwarranted use, of antibiotics required for human
medical prophylactics and therapeutics in food animal production” ( p. 2664).
Thus, saying it is ultimately overuse of these antibiotics that can lead to an
antibiotic resistant bacteria. Antibiotics being overused can easily be
accomplished when each antibiotic produced produces at least one strand of
bacteria resistant to that antibiotic. This then requires a different antibiotic
that the resistant strand of bacteria is not resistant to. Over time, different
antibiotics are needed for one food animal that eventually exhibits overuse. If
a human happens to consume that food animal consisting of many antibiotics’ and
falls ill, bacteria could be resistant to the antibiotics prescribed to that
person.
What antibiotics are being used for food animals in comparison
to human antibiotics?
In
the Journal of Animal Science, a report done by G.H. Yeoman, presented
antibacterial agents used in veterinarian practices, as well as for human use,
showed four antibiotics used for both groups. Penicillin- used to treat
chlamydia, Staph infection, and strep throat (and many others) -
Tetracyclines-used to treat urinary tract infections, acne, and gonorrhea (and
many others) -chemotherapeutics- used to treat many forms of cancer and their
cells- chloramphenicol-used to treat forms of meningitis, Rocky Mountain spotted
fever, and others- as well as other antibiotics not listed as their own
individual group (Animal Science, 1986, p.75). Other antibiotics including
macrolides, cephalosporins, and streptogamins have also been included by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as antibiotics used in humans and
food animals (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011). Each of these
antibiotics is being consumed by humans and each of these antibiotics consists
of bacteria resistant to them that prove resistant to these antibiotics if
prescribed to humans.
What are alternative practices that can be substituted for
antibiotics that do not pose any threats to
humans?
The
committee responsible for The Use of
Drugs in Food Animals recommends:
·
Increased
public and private sector research on the effect of nutrition and management
practices on immune function and disease resistance in all species of food
animals.
·
Increased
public and private sector research strategies for the development of new
vaccination techniques, on a better understanding of the biochemical basis of
antibody production, and on genetic selection and molecular genetic engineering
for disease resistance.
In the Journal of Poultry Science (2005), the two authors
reflected on studies by Dibner and Richards that states, “…unlikely that a
single replacement will be found that will prove to be economically viable” (p.
633). Although the uses of antimicrobial growth promoters are being studied to
provide an alternative to antibiotics, the link to human health hazards is
uncertain.
When it comes to whether or not antibiotics used in food animals pose a
threat to the human population all the research and documentation done by
scientist and medical personnel says yes. In reality, the continued studies for
alternatives as well as the practice still continuing today proves the people
are aware of the threat, but are unable to come up with a reasonable
alternative. All the sources say the same thing: there is a threat when using
antibiotics in food animals, but finding an alternative is challenging and needs
to be economically viable. Is there an alternative to the antibiotics being
used?-no. These findings are inconclusive to my thesis.
Bibliography
CDC:
Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
Office of the Associate Director for
Communication, Last modified December 05, 2011. Web 18 October
2012
http://www.cdc.gov/
Committee on Drug Use in Food Animals, Board on Agriculture,
Food and Nutrition Board,
Institute of Medicine, National Research Council, Panel on Animal Health,
Food Safety,
and Public Health. “The Use of Drugs in Food Animals: Benefits and
Risks”.
Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press,
1999
Hume, M. E., “Food Safety Symposium: Potential Impact of Reduced
Antibiotic Use and the
Roles of Prebiotics, Probiotics, and Other Alternatives in
Antibiotic-Free Broiler Production.” Journal of Poultry Science 90, no. 11
(2011): 2663-2669
Jones, F. T. and Ricket, S. C., “Symposium: Antibiotics in
Animal Feeds: Are There Viable
Alternatives?,”
Journal of Poultry Science 84 no. 4
(2005): 633
Levy, Stuart B. M.D. “The Antibiotic Paradox: How Miracle Drugs
are Destroying the Miracle”.
New York: Plenum Press, 1992
Walton, John R., “Impact of Antibiotic Restrictions in Animal
Production on Public Health”,
Journal
of Animal Science 62,
no.3 (1986): 74-84
Imagine a world in which there was no antibiotics to treat the
causes of many illnesses like diarrhea, the flu, pneumonia, or chlamydia. You’re
sick, but now you’re really sick thinking about how you’re going to get better
with no medical help. This could be the case for our future. More and more
corporate farmers are turning to antibiotics to treat problems in food animals
that we eat. These aren’t any antibiotics, but the same ones used in animal
production are being administered to humans. It’s a problem many scientists and
medical personnel have spoken out about, yet the practice only seems to grow. In
determining whether the practice is safe, there will be responses to the
following questions:
1.
What
are the risks in consuming food animals treated with
antibiotics?
2.
What
antibiotics are being used for food animals in comparison to human
antibiotics?
3.
What
are alternative practices that can be substituted for antibiotics that do not
pose any threats to humans?
Treating food animals with antibiotics alone and with no
economically viable alternatives could be a growing threat to the population. Is
there an alternative?
According to The Use of Drugs in
Food Animals:
Most drugs used in food animals have a specific purpose: to
treat cuts and abrasions, to enhance growth, to fight parasites. Antibiotics are
among the few classes of drugs used in food animals both therapeutically to
treat disease and sub therapeutically to increase production performance, to
increase efficiency of use of feed for growth or product output, and to modify
the nutrient composition of an animal product. (p. 4)
In comparison, The
Antibiotic Paradox states“The bulk of antibiotics produced in the United States are consumed
in the treatment of humans and to promote growth and control infections in food
animals” (Antibiotic Paradox, 1992, p.157). Thus, a great deal of our
antibiotics is used for veterinary purposes in connection with uses for humans
and the practice ultimately provides sanitary conditions and healthy food
animals for our food markets. The fact is more are being used for food animals
than for humans, which makes the threat of a strand of resistant bacteria more
prevalent.
What are the risks in consuming food animals treated with
antibiotics?
Antibiotics in animals range from topical antiseptics to hormone or
hormone enhancers with five major classes of drugs being used altogether (Drugs
in Food, 1999, p.2). With many forms of drugs being used as well as the same
that are being used for humans, concerns tend to arise. The main concern is a
strand of antibiotic resistant bacteria being produced that affects humans on a
population level. This is the greatest risk and concern when dealing with this
practice. According to The Use of Drugs
in Food Animals, “…drugs used in food-animal production and residues of
those drugs could enter human food and increase the risk of ill-health in
persons who consume products from treated animals” (p. 2). In the Poultry
Science Journal on Prebiotics, Probiotics, and other Alternatives to Antibiotics
in a section titled “The Dilemma” (2011), “The growing number of incidences of
antibiotic resistance has been hypothesized to be directly related to the
overuse, and sometimes unwarranted use, of antibiotics required for human
medical prophylactics and therapeutics in food animal production” ( p. 2664).
Thus, saying it is ultimately overuse of these antibiotics that can lead to an
antibiotic resistant bacteria. Antibiotics being overused can easily be
accomplished when each antibiotic produced produces at least one strand of
bacteria resistant to that antibiotic. This then requires a different antibiotic
that the resistant strand of bacteria is not resistant to. Over time, different
antibiotics are needed for one food animal that eventually exhibits overuse. If
a human happens to consume that food animal consisting of many antibiotics’ and
falls ill, bacteria could be resistant to the antibiotics prescribed to that
person.
What antibiotics are being used for food animals in comparison
to human antibiotics?
In
the Journal of Animal Science, a report done by G.H. Yeoman, presented
antibacterial agents used in veterinarian practices, as well as for human use,
showed four antibiotics used for both groups. Penicillin- used to treat
chlamydia, Staph infection, and strep throat (and many others) -
Tetracyclines-used to treat urinary tract infections, acne, and gonorrhea (and
many others) -chemotherapeutics- used to treat many forms of cancer and their
cells- chloramphenicol-used to treat forms of meningitis, Rocky Mountain spotted
fever, and others- as well as other antibiotics not listed as their own
individual group (Animal Science, 1986, p.75). Other antibiotics including
macrolides, cephalosporins, and streptogamins have also been included by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as antibiotics used in humans and
food animals (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011). Each of these
antibiotics is being consumed by humans and each of these antibiotics consists
of bacteria resistant to them that prove resistant to these antibiotics if
prescribed to humans.
What are alternative practices that can be substituted for
antibiotics that do not pose any threats to
humans?
The
committee responsible for The Use of
Drugs in Food Animals recommends:
·
Increased
public and private sector research on the effect of nutrition and management
practices on immune function and disease resistance in all species of food
animals.
·
Increased
public and private sector research strategies for the development of new
vaccination techniques, on a better understanding of the biochemical basis of
antibody production, and on genetic selection and molecular genetic engineering
for disease resistance.
In the Journal of Poultry Science (2005), the two authors
reflected on studies by Dibner and Richards that states, “…unlikely that a
single replacement will be found that will prove to be economically viable” (p.
633). Although the uses of antimicrobial growth promoters are being studied to
provide an alternative to antibiotics, the link to human health hazards is
uncertain.
When it comes to whether or not antibiotics used in food animals pose a
threat to the human population all the research and documentation done by
scientist and medical personnel says yes. In reality, the continued studies for
alternatives as well as the practice still continuing today proves the people
are aware of the threat, but are unable to come up with a reasonable
alternative. All the sources say the same thing: there is a threat when using
antibiotics in food animals, but finding an alternative is challenging and needs
to be economically viable. Is there an alternative to the antibiotics being
used?-no. These findings are inconclusive to my thesis.
Bibliography
CDC:
Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
Office of the Associate Director for
Communication, Last modified December 05, 2011. Web 18 October
2012
http://www.cdc.gov/
Committee on Drug Use in Food Animals, Board on Agriculture,
Food and Nutrition Board,
Institute of Medicine, National Research Council, Panel on Animal Health,
Food Safety,
and Public Health. “The Use of Drugs in Food Animals: Benefits and
Risks”.
Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press,
1999
Hume, M. E., “Food Safety Symposium: Potential Impact of Reduced
Antibiotic Use and the
Roles of Prebiotics, Probiotics, and Other Alternatives in
Antibiotic-Free Broiler Production.” Journal of Poultry Science 90, no. 11
(2011): 2663-2669
Jones, F. T. and Ricket, S. C., “Symposium: Antibiotics in
Animal Feeds: Are There Viable
Alternatives?,”
Journal of Poultry Science 84 no. 4
(2005): 633
Levy, Stuart B. M.D. “The Antibiotic Paradox: How Miracle Drugs
are Destroying the Miracle”.
New York: Plenum Press, 1992
Walton, John R., “Impact of Antibiotic Restrictions in Animal
Production on Public Health”,
Journal
of Animal Science 62,
no.3 (1986): 74-84